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_ Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2022 with funding from 
Princeton Theological Seminary Library 


https ://archive.org/details/venturesinintera00inma 


VENTURES IN — 
INTER-AMERICAN 
FRIENDSHIP 


By SAMUEL GUY INMAN 


Author of Problems in Pan Americanism, 
Intervention in Mexico, ete. 


MISSIONARY EDUCATION MOVEMENT 


OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA 
NEW YORK 


PuBLISHER’S NOTE 


Samuel Guy Inman is Secretary of the Committee on Coopera- 
tion in Latin America with headquarters in New York, but for the 
period of ten years during which he has occupied this position he 
has made five extended trips through Latin America and has vis- 
ited one or more of the Latin American countries each year. 
Prior to his affiliation with the Committee Mr. Inman served for 
ten years as a missionary in Mexico. He has been invited to give 
courses of lectures in a number of the prominent universities of 
the Southern republics and is now, in addition to his other duties, 
Instructor in International Relations in Columbia University. 
Besides the many books and reports that he has written in English 
interpreting the problems of Latin America to the United States 
he is the author of a book entitled Hacia la Solidaridad Americana 
which was written in Spanish and published by one of the prin- 
cipal houses in Madrid for circulation in Latin America. 

In planning Ventures in Inter-American Friendship the pub- 
lishers asked Mr. Inman to provide a short book for discussion 
groups that would show the trends of thought on social, political, 
and religious problems in Latin America today in their relationship 
to the Evangelical movement, and, so far as possible, by the selec- 
tion of significant statements from the writings and speeches of 
Latin American leaders themselves to reflect their attitudes on 
these questions. 

The Congress on Christian Work in South America, held in 
Montevideo in April, 1925, illustrated in its plan, its method of dis- 
cussion, and its reports so many important aspects of the present 
situation facing the Evangelical forces that a part of the book is 
given to a summary and an interpretation of this important gath- 
ering. The full reports of the Commissions of the Congress form 
a most valuable source of fresh and reliable information on South 
America today. They are published in two volumes by the Flem- 
ing H. Revell Company, New York, under the title Christian 
Work in South America. 





Copyright, 1925, by the 


MISSIONARY EpucATION MovEMENT 
OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA 


Printed in the United States of America 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


i, 
II. 


. THE NIGHT OF THE OPEN HEART 


THE VENTURE AT MONTEVIDEO 


SoME FRUITS OF THE VENTURE . 


CHANGING SouTH AMERICA 


POLITICAL AND Economic RELATIONS 


. BASES FOR INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


121 


QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 


CHAPTER I 


. If you were called upon to attend an international conference 
in South America, as several North Americans were asked re- 
cently to attend the Montevideo Congress, with what preconcep- 
tions would you set out, regarding the civilization, the govern- 
ment, the culture, the social and religious conditions of South 
America? <A frank statement on this by each member of a 
discussion group at the beginning will help greatly in discussing 
the material presented in this book. ; 
. What interests should be uppermost in the minds of North 
American Christians in visiting South America? (The same 
question should also be considered at the conclusion of this 
whole study.) 

. How far do the spiritual problems of South America seem 
similar and how far different from those of Europe and North 
America ? 

. What seem to be the forces that are influencing South America 
toward materialism? 

. Under what limitations would it seem right for North Ameri- 
can Christians to initiate a conference to deal with the spiritual 
problems of South America? 

. Were the organizers of the Montevideo Congress right or 
wrong in inviting persons outside the Evangelical circles? 

. How far are congregational singing, Bible reading and prayer, 
and the organization of formal churches essential in present- 
ing the gospel message in South America? 

. How far is a Christian worker justified in using indirect meth- 
ods and in working with individuals or groups that are unwill- 
ing to have any pressure put on them to join the church? 


I 
THE VENTURE AT MONTEVIDEO 


“The great Argentine, Juan Bautista Alberdi, has well 
said: ‘Suppress religion and you mutilate man. Religion 
is the most powerful principle in the development of hu- 
manity.’ However splendid all other service rendered to 
South America may be, the cap-sheaf of the whole is 
the reaching of the hearts of individual men and of so- 
ciety with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the securing 
of loyalty to His person and aims.” 

These words lead at once into the heart of the Con- 
gress on Christian Work in South America which was 
held in Montevideo in the spring of 1925. They are to 
be found in the report of the Commission on Evangelism. 
Many of those who participated in the Congress consid- 
ered that the greatest question to be faced was not a mat- 
ter of this or that church or of this or that method, but 
the question as to whether South America could be 
brought to a new spiritual basis for its life. The convic- 
tion that the life of the continent depended on such a 
basis and that it could be found in the life and teach- 
ings of Jesus was.reiterated in many forms and at many 
times. 

The Congress, called under the auspices of the Com- 
mittee on Cooperation in Latin America, which repre- 
sents thirty mission boards of North America doing work 
in Latin America, brought together representatives of 
eighteen nations, thirty-five organizations, and some 
seventeen denominations. About two thirds of the dele- 
gates came from South America and one third from the 

5 


6 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


United States. There were three delegates from Spain, 
two from France, and one each from Switzerland, Italy, 
and Great Britain. The Congress met for a ten-days’ dis- 
cussion of the great questions related to education, reli- 
gion, social movements, literature, public health, and co- 
operation among the spiritual forces of the world. How 
timely was this gathering is indicated further in the re- 
port that has been already quoted: 


It is evident that the present moment offers exceptional oppor- 
tunities for evangelism in South America. There are stirring in 
the southern continent certain great movements which not only 
afford opportunities for the entrance of the gospel, but also make 
it incumbent upon Evangelical Christianity to spread the gospel - 
message broadcast. Two outstanding reasons may be given for a 
more active propagation of the gospel in South America just 
now. (1) There is a growing spirit of materialism as opposed 
to a spiritual interpretation of life, and an accompanying tend- 
ency to throw overboard anything that savors of religion; and 
(2) there is a rapidly growing tendency to question all traditional 
modes of thought and action, which finds constant expression in 
the political, social, and religious realms and is particularly no- 
ticeable in the realm of religion. 

While not so notably true in the northern sections of South 
America, the southern republics are entering upon a period of 
intensive commercial and industrial development which is giving 
a great material impulse to each country, but is at the same time 
shifting the emphasis away from the cultural, religious evaluation 
of life to one that is strongly materialistic. Wiéithin the past few 
years there has been a vast increase in the connections, both com- 
mercial and industrial, between Latin American lands and both 
Europe and North America. The result has been that large 
numbers of representatives from Europe and North America, in- 
terested in the material profit, have gone into these countries 
with their capital and plans for commercial expansion, changing 
the character and outlook of whole republics. 

There has been also a close relationship in spirit between the 





THE VENTURE AT MONTEVIDEO 7 


French people and the peoples of South America. Not Spain 
but France has furnished the model in matters cultural and 
philosophical for most of the South American peoples; and it 1s 
well known, of course, that a strong materialistic note has been 
for a long period dominant in French thinking and writing. 
While this has more directly affected the governing and influ- 
ential classes, yet the labor groups today are almost completely 
dominated by this materialistic emphasis. It comes to them not 
alone through the arguments and ideas of upper-class people but 
through their direct relationship with labor movements in Russia 
and in other parts of the world, which are confessedly opposed 
to anything like religion. 

The torces of the world which contribute to the materializa- 
tion of South America are active; is it not time that the more 
spiritually minded people make their contribution as well? 


Dr. J. Pou Orfila, a professor in the University of 
Montevideo, says: “Unfortunately, in contemporary cul- 
ture the material element predominates over the spiritual 
element. Many of the evils which afflict humanity today 
have come because of the excessive attention given to the 
material phases of life and the slight attention given to 
the moral and spiritual side. More than once we have 
talked of the spiritual and moral bankruptcy of the pres- 
ent capitalistic civilization. Again youth must be taught 
to construct its inner life on a basis of sound interests 
and noble desires; not to content itself with inferior 
ideals.” 

The Committee of Arrangements for the Montevideo 
Congress made this announcement in Bulletin No. 2, is- 
sued before the Congress met: 


Many of the great leaders among government officials, heads 
of universities, authors, and distinguished publicists are now 
urging the necessity of finding a spiritual basis for national and 
personal life. It would be easy to cite large numbers of inspiring 


8 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


illustrations of this fact. This, particularly, is the challenging 
reason for the Congress on Christian Work in South America. 
A noted South American educator said recently that he believed 
that the Congress, if directed rightly, had a peculiar opportunity 
at this most propitious time to unite the new forces now arising 
in a call to the whole continent for a turning from the material 
to a fresh emphasis on the spiritual. Certainly it ought to mean 
much for all concerned to have a hundred representatives of 
English-speaking America and a hundred leaders of Spanish- and 
Portuguese-speaking America, accompanied by a number of spirit- 
ual leaders from Europe, sit down together for some two weeks 
in the city of Montevideo to discuss how the great materialistic 
emphasis noted in all modern life can be overcome by the em- 
phasis on the teachings of Christ. If the spiritual forces are to 
prevail, there must be found some new ways of alliance between 
them and the great social, economic, and educational renaissance. ° 
Otherwise, the very advancements of modern science will favor 
the material at the expense of the spiritual. This is the great 
challenge facing the Montevideo Congress. 


The eyes of the Christian world were upon Montevideo 
in those memorable ten days of March and April, 1925. 
Not only did those interested in the missionary progress 
of Christianity center their attention on Montevideo, but 
also those who were anxious about the international rela- 
tions of the world. These were particularly critical times 
in South America. Other conferences had been held on 
that continent during recent years from which much as 
regards international friendship was expected, but they 
had not always given the desired results. Interior diffi- 
culties pressed upon many of the countries and relations 
between various South American nations were strained. 
While commercial relations had been growing between 
the United States and South America, not so much 
could be said concerning spiritual relations. For the 
first time in the history of the continent some fifty North 


THE VENTURE AT MONTEVIDEO 9 


Americans interested only in spiritual, moral, and social 
relations went to South America. Many commercial, 
diplomatic, and scientific missions had preceded them, but 
this was a great spiritual venture unparalleled in the his- 
tory of the continent, in which such a large number of 
North Americans set forth to discover new friendships 
in the southern continent. 

They went, not simply as delegates to a congress, but 
as visitors to the great capitals of South American na- 
tions to exchange ideas with the leaders of thought 
and of spiritual forces in these centers. On _ the 
steamer going south Dr. Robert E. Speer had said 
to the group, “Above all things, let us return having made 
a few devoted friends with whom we can continue our 
fellowship, exchanging books and ideas and mutually 
aiding in maintaining ideals.” 

All of the delegates were entertained in the same hotel 
for some two weeks. A committee of hostesses arranged 
their seating at meals so that those from the different na- 
tions and organizations became acquainted and formed a 
friendly basis for mutual understanding. This was the 
first time in the history of many of the churches that dele- 
gates from the various South American countries had 
come together. Meetings of denominational groups, rep- 
resentatives of interdenominational schools and presses, 
groups interested in temperance, in literature, in women’s 
movements, in student work, in labor, in international 
peace, and in many other questions found time during the 
luncheon hour, at dinner, or at afternoon tea to consult 
together over their special interests. Fellowship was one 
of the great results of the Congress. Those who noted 
the stiff formality of the delegates in the beginning and 
the way they commingled during the latter part of the 


10 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


Congress realized how much this fellowship meant. As 
the years go by and friendships begun at the Hotel Pocitos 
ripen into fellowship in large service for the nations, the 
significance of living together during those memorable 
days will grow in appreciation. 

Montevideo, then, was not so much a conference about 
South America as a conference with South Americans. 
The Congress came to regard itself not so much as the 
meeting of delegates of a “‘missionary” group to deter- 
mine their problems and attitudes toward a mission field 
as a meeting of a selected group of Evangelicals with a 
cross-section of the South American people to determine 
how all might work together in solving South America’s . 
problems, which, with certain local differences, seem to be 
the world’s problems. 

To return to the spiritual situation, the report on Evan- 
gelism presented to the Congress emphasized the oppor- 
tuneness of this time for the gathering, stating that the 
interest in the Bible and in Jesus Christ was never greater 
than at the present moment. The Bible, which for gen- 
erations has been a closed book to the thinking classes in 
South America, now begins to have for them a new in- 
terest, if in many cases only a literary interest. It is ap- 
preciated at least that this is great literature. Many think- 
ing men see in it, however, more than mere literature; 
and they read its glowing pages in search of solutions for 
those problems that perplex them. The day of the “Span- 
ish Christ,” the tragic figure that has symbolized the 
spirit of religion in South America hitherto, is giving place 
to the strong, virile figure of the Jesus of history. As an 
illustration of this conviction, one of the books published 
recently by the Department of Education in Mexico, 
copies of which were sent to every library in the country, 


THE VENTURE AT MONTEVIDEO il 
was an edition of the New Testament with an introduc- 
tion by Tolstoy. All this means that the general atmos- 
phere is becoming increasingly favorable for the procla- 
mation of Christian truth. 

In spite of this spiritual interest seen now and then, 
the report points out the great indifference of the masses: 


Possibly two per cent of the mass of population in the River 
Plate republics is reached by all the churches taken together in 
a way which actually touches their lives. Allowing that there 
be sixteen hundred thousand families, and two million children, 
a five-per-cent influence would require that there be a hundred 
thousand children in receipt of definite Christian teaching in con- 
nection with some church association. Those under Protestant 
influences are possibly twelve thousand, and they certainly aggre- 
gate more than one eighth of the whole. In country districts, 
and over very large areas, not more than ten per cent of the 
children are even baptized into the Church, and the marriage 
factor (even of civil marriage) is very low. The authorities at 
Rome are under no illusion as to the conditions that prevail, but 
they are in no situation to assist, for, as is perfectly well known, 
they have no reserve of teaching staff on which to draw except 
the product of the seminaries of Spain, and the standard of 
education in these institutions is itself so low that their help is 
practically valueless. 


Facing such conditions, the majority of the Congress 
were not particularly interested in discussing the theo- 
logical differences between Romanism and Protestantism, 
or the relative value of the Evangelical sects, but they felt 
that their great duty was to find the best methods of 
reaching the people with the spiritual message of Christ. 
Thus the Congress declared : 


We consider that the propagation of spiritism and theosophy 
in several South American countries, together with the new 


12 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


interest in the religious problem which has been noted in this 
Report, are evidence of a reaction against materialism and of a 
deep-seated sense of loneliness and a desire for spiritual com- 
panionship, and that this constitutes a call for a fresh interpre- 
tation of the place that belongs to Jesus Christ in all constructive 
thought on human problems and of His sufficiency to meet all the 
yearnings of the human heart. 


THE OPEN-MINDEDNESS OF THE CONGRESS 


Meeting at such a time, the gathering at Montevideo 
was marked by rare open-mindedness. The prevailing 
idea of the nature of the Congress was that it was a meet- 
ing organized by the Evangelical group to confer with. 
South America about a re-facing of her great spiritual 
and social problems in the light of the teachings of Christ. 

Said Dr. Robert E. Speer: “We are here to push out 
the limits of our life and thought. We are not to add 
anything to Christ and the truth that has come in Him, 
but we are to make fresh discoveries in this truth and 
new demands upon this power. Christianity does not 
flinch from such fresh examinations. The more we sub- 
ject it to tests of life and the world, the more we dis- 
cover that what is needed is there. . . . We are here in 
this Congress to discover how rich and varied the Chris- 
tian gospel is.” 

Authority was never more challenged than at Monte- 
video. The desire to hear the views of those who dif- 
fered from the majority was continually expressed. Men 
and women who were not members of Evangelical 
churches, not participators in the general sentiment of the 
delegations, and who did not understand a good deal of 
what the Congress represented, were entirely free to ex- 
press themselves and to attend or not to attend the vari- 


THE VENTURE AT MONTEVIDEO 13 


ous sessions, as they desired. They were quite unac- 
customed to such liberty. Neither governments nor 
churches in South America usually grant such liberty. 
The fact that it was granted so freely in a religious as- 
sembly largely dominated by Protestants and including 
many foreigners was particularly appreciated by liberal 
South Americans. 

A wide divergence of opinion existed concerning the 
advisability of inviting those outside of Evangelical cir- 
cles who might bring to the delegates the thoughts of the 
great leaders in South American social movements. A 
favorable decision was made, however, and the leaders 
invited were frank in their expressions of opinion. It 
looked at times as though this freedom of speech could 
not but disrupt the assembly, but no revolt took place. 
Liberty of expression was carried through to a success- 
ful end. 

The Brazilian Government sent officially, with a spe- 
cial diplomatic passport, its distinguished head of the De- 
partment of Indian Affairs, Dr. Luis B. Horta de Bar- 
bosa, with a commission to secure from the Congress data 
on the Indians of the continent. The Government of 
Chile commissioned Professor Salas Marchant to secure 
data on education. Professor Ernesto Nelson of Argen- 
tina and President Enrique Molina of Chile were also 
given official leave to go to Montevideo. 

The Latin American representative of the League of 
Nations, the Minister of Education of the Uruguayan 
Government, various ministers from different foreign 
countries, distinguished statesmen and educators, came to 
visit the Congress and to express sympathy with its work. 


_ 1Some of the most striking opinions expressed will be found 
in Chapter III of this book, 


14 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


When, during the last few days of the Congress, the peo- 
ple of the city began to realize the character of the gath- 
ering, a great change came over their attitude. 

The day that statesmen, educators, and leaders in the 
social movements of South America openly attended and 
frankly addressed the Montevideo Congress marked a 
new day for the Evangelical Church of that continent. It 
opened a new era of tolerance and of appreciation both 
of the intellectuals for the Church and of the Church for 
the intellectuals. It announced to the continent, since 
this was discussed in the press of all the countries, that 
some of her most distinguished citizens had come to con- 
sider seriously the Evangelical movement as a potential 
force in the life of her people and it announced at the 
same time that the Evangelical Church now desires to 
counsel openly and frankly with those in their own 
lands who are directing the destinies of the people for 
whom these churches are working. It lifted Protestant- 
ism to a place where it is to be regarded as at least a pos- 
sible ally to all those who fight for larger liberty, morality, 
social reform, and spiritual culture. 

Heretofore, with notable exceptions, the intellectual ele- 
ment in South America has hardly considered Protestant- 
ism as worthy of its attention, while, on the other hand, 
Evangelicals have regarded the intellectuals as hopelessly 
atheistic and impossible of spiritual understanding. It 
would be hard to say which group was the more benefited 
by its contacts at Montevideo. But the good results on 
both sides are destined to bring much fruit for both par- 
ties in the coming years. 

Enough has been said to indicate that there were many 
points of division in the Montevideo Congress and that 
little effort was made to produce a false appearance of 


THE VENTURE AT MONTEVIDEO 15 


unity on the surface. Differences between Anglo-Saxons 
and Latins have already been intimated. There were also 
profound differences between the South Americans them- 
selves. Brazil, Portuguese-speaking, has half of the ter- 
ritory and half of the population of South America. 
There have always been some differences between Brazil 
and Spanish-speaking South America. 

This was a particularly critical time between Chile and 
Peru. Though enemies for half a century, because of 
the Tacna and Arica question, both these countries had 
delegates at Montevideo, the first time that such an 
event had happened in an international conference for a 
long time. Representatives from Colombia, Venezuela, 
and Ecuador felt themselves facing problems quite dif- 
ferent from those of the southern countries of South 
America. 

Among other differences were those existing between 
the nationals of South America and the foreigners. Theo- 
logically there were, of course, progressives and conserva- 
tives. And there were those interested in social move- 
ments and those who believed that the Congress should 
consider only the technical questions centering around 
evangelism and the building of an indigenous church. 
The differences between the Young Men’s Christian As- 
sociation and the churches were noticeable because the 
questionable attitude of the former toward the Evangeli- 
cal basis had been shown by the decision of the Asso- 
ciation to send only fraternal delegates to the Congress. 

There was, of course, the difference between Catholics 
and Protestants. While no official delegates from the 
Catholic Church were present, members of that church 
who were interested in the great social movements of the 
continent had been invited, and they spoke from the plat- 


16 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


form. Among the Protestant delegates there were many 
varieties of opinion concerning the attitude that should be 
taken toward Roman Catholicism. Finally, there were 
strong denominationalists on the one hand and strong 
believers in a unified church on the other. 

Here, indeed, were all kinds of opportunities for divi- 
sion with none of the devices used by old-time conference 
leaders to forestall division. Often it looked as though 
disruption would come. Denominational narrowness 
killed a number of far-reaching proposals for the King- 
dom’s business. Yet day by day the Congress grew in 
unity, and on the final day the findings were unanimously 
and enthusiastically approved by all. 


SELF-DETERMINATION 


The whole preparation for and conduct of the Monte- 
video Congress marked a new recognition of the respon- 
sibility of the Evangelical Christians of South America 
for the evangelizing of the continent. There were most 
encouraging evidences of their increasing ability to carry 
their share. As for the Congress itself, the North 
American committee insisted that its duties were only to 
gather together a representative delegation and to pro- 
vide such machinery as would insure the most comfort, 
the efficient use of time, and the opportunity of expres- 
sion for each delegate. The conduct of the Congress was 
left entirely in the hands of its members. 

A South American, Professor Erasmo Braga, was 
elected President of the Congress. Fortunately there was 
found in this distinguished Brazilian the peer of any pre- 
siding officer of an international gathering. Many an 
experienced chairman would have become flustered in 


THE VENTURE AT MONTEVIDEO 17 


some of the difficult and delicate situations that arose, 
but President Braga never lost a clear understanding of 
the issues involved or the entire control of the assembly. 
No one was ever allowed to feel that he did not have full 
chance to express his opinions. Nothing was hurried 
over when discussion was desired. No resolutions were 
put over by suppressing discussion or by framing them 
in such language that they would not be clear. Monte- 
video Congress may not have been as “efficient” as some 
other conferences, but its members could certainly feel 
that the conference was what they themselves made it. 
On the last great day, when the Congress approved the 
findings, this was accomplished with a unanimity and 
heartiness possible only because of the feeling that the 
conclusions had been reached by the whole assembly and 
that they had not been imposed by any small group of 
propagandists or “leaders.” 

It is interesting to compare the Montevideo Congress 
with the previous Congress that met in Panama under the 
auspices of the same Committee on Cooperation in 1916. 
For the Panama Congress the eight commission reports 
were prepared by sending questionnaires to Latin America 
and from the answers to these questionnaires and from 
original investigations the reports were written in the 
United States. For Montevideo the commission reports 
were prepared in South America. Each country made 
its own studies of the twelve subjects agreed upon. A 
committee in the United States simply took the reports 
as prepared in the countries themselves and edited them, 
joining them together to make an acceptable unit within 
the space allowed. In Panama the reports were printed 
only in English. In Montevideo they were printed in 
Spanish and Portuguese as well. 


18 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


In Panama the findings were parts of commission re- 
ports, prepared beforehand by the Commissions. They 
were not voted on at the Congress, in order that no one 
need feel embarrassed by committing himself or his or- 
ganization to any policy. At Montevideo the request had 
been made previous to the gathering that definite findings 
outlining clear programs be made by the gathering itself. 

The difference in the use of languages in the two con- 
ferences marked also the great emphasis that Monte- 
video placed on the national element. Spanish was the 
official language of the Congress. Those speaking Portu- 
guese of course could understand Spanish and vice versa, 
so that the only ones to lose in comprehending were those 
to whom English alone was intelligible. . 

Self-determination was evidenced at Montevideo for 
three reasons: because of the growth of South America 
itself; because of the development of the Evangelical 
Church and the fact that its various branches were learn- 
ing to work together; and because the foreign element 
had come to have a new respect for the South Americans. 
These things, together with the pressing social problems 
which forced themselves on the Congress, explain to a 
considerable degree why Panama and Montevideo dif- 
fered so largely in the consideration of their relations to 
Roman Catholicism. At Panama this was the most im- 
portant of all questions. At Montevideo, while there was 
a whole commission report devoted to its study, it re- 
ceived comparatively little attention in the debates. While 
at Panama there might have been a question in the minds 
of some as to the advisability of Protestant missions 
working in Latin America, at Montevideo, the Evangelical 
Church felt itself as an established part of the life of 
South America, an institution which is taken for granted. 


THE VENTURE AT MONTEVIDEO 19 


With its firmer establishment as a national institution, 
therefore, the big question at Montevideo had shifted to 
the Evangelical Church itself, its own pressing problems, 
those of the community, and what the relationships 
should be between the South American Church and the 
foreign missionaries and Boards which had given it birth 
and fostered its life up to the present. 

Be it said to the credit of the foreign element in the 
Congress, they recognized clearly the changed situation 
and for the most part joined heartily in working out 
plans for meeting it. The North American delegates re- 
turned home with a new respect and a new admiration for 
South America, with a new confidence in her ability to 
produce leadership, and a new belief in the power of the 
Evangelical Church there. 

The Commission appointed to consider the problem of 
relations between foreign and national workers declared: 


With the vigorous growth of the Evangelical churches in South 
America in recent years, the growth of an independent spirit 
among the leaders, and even in the body of the membership, has 
gone forward more rapidly, perhaps, than has the growth of the 
national consciousness itself. Wherever and whenever the con- 
sciousness of growing material, intellectual, and spiritual re- 
sources becomes strong, the desire for independence, sooner or 
later, appears. 


The son of an Argentine minister, who became a uni- 
versity professor, spoke frankly of why more Latin 
American young men did not enter the ministry. “Not 
infrequently,” he said, “the national evangelist has been 
treated as an inferior by his foreign colleague. The lat- 
ter has not always been able to throw off the prejudices 
of racial, national, and cultural superiority. He has 


20 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


dubbed the native pastor ‘brother,’ but, frequently, as the 
vulgar phrase has it, ‘whilst staring over his shoulder.’ 
The foreign evangelist has reserved the best post for him- 
self; has generally stationed himself nearest the center of 
greatest resources, where life is pleasanter and less ex- 
posed to privations; he has, generally speaking, enjoyed a 
fair salary, while the native ‘brother’ has little less than 
begged his bread, and resigned himself to leaving his chil- 
dren practically unschooled.” 

The whole question of national leadership revolves 
around the matter of proper education for such leaders. 
If the Evangelical Church has few leaders equal to some 
of the great educators in state and private institutions 
who attended the Congress, it is clearly not because they 
cannot be produced, but because proper educational facili- 
ties have not been provided. Evidently most of the effort 
of the North American missionaries should now be given, 
not to doing the work themselves, but to educating South 
Americans who can render the service needed. 

In referring to the need of work among students, the 
Commission on Unoccupied Fields said: 


The contribution deeply desired, urgently needed, frequently 
requested, but yet to be made by the Evangelical churches to 
meet the present situation, is the provision of national ministers 
of commanding education, specially trained and consecrated for 
student work. In preparation and in personality such ministers 
should equal the strongest “student pastors” at university centers 
in North America. In addition to a broad general culture and 
a sound theological training, they should be oriented into student 
problems. 


A university professor tells how lack of educated 
leaders is keeping men out of the church: “The churches 
laid themselves out to open Evangelical centers in all the 


THE VENTURE AT MONTEVIDEO at 


country before a sufficient staff had been developed to 
direct them. To this must be attributed the stand-off 
attitude of thousands of men and women, who, as chil- 
dren, went to Sunday schools. When such entered na- 
tional schools and colleges, that is to say, when they came 
up against great philosophical and sociological problems, 
they soon found that their mental position could not be 
reconciled with the teaching of the pastors, and that these 
latter could not satisfy their new vision. They parted 
company. Hence, the present congregations which con- 
stitute the Evangelical churches are, in a great majority 
of cases, uneducated and lacking in social importance.” 


DE-ANGLICIZING MISSIONARY METHODS 


The closer association of all Evangelical work with life 
in South America, rather than following the Anglo-Saxon 
type, was often recognized. For instance, the educational 
findings declare: 


We recognize the great educational advance of recent years all 
over South America, and yield ungrudging admiration for the 
administrative, pedagogical, and material efficiency of various na- 
tional school systems. We realize that it behooves our Evan- 
gelical educational institutions to give convincing proofs of their 
loyal cooperation in the educational program of their respective 
countries. We therefore recommend that each institution study 
in what ways, if any, it can still further approximate the govern- 
ment system of teaching and national ideas in education, or make 
a contribution thereto, consistently with its fundamental aims. 


Adjusting Evangelical propaganda to Latin psychology 
would mean a larger emphasis on personality than on or- 
ganization. Organization to the Saxon is one of those in- 
dispensable matters in life without which he cannot exist. 


22 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


The story is told of a well-known English lecturer who 
avowed that “wherever there are found together two or 
three Americans, there will they organize and elect a 
chairman, secretary, and sub-committee.” But two or 
three Latins or many times that number may be together 
for many moons without ever thinking of organization. 
The strongest characteristic of the Hispanic American 
is individualism. This he has inherited from his Ameri- 
can and his Iberian-Arabic ancestry. His relationships are 
personal. The strength of any leader, political or other- 
wise, in Hispanic America, is his personal relations. 
Candidates for office win, not by strong platforms, but 
by strong friendships. Business is captured, not by 
strong organization which is able to undersell and hurry 
up deliveries, but by personal relationships with the buyer. 
Letters of introduction, which have largely gone out of 
style with the Anglo-Saxon, are still much in vogue 
among Latins. 

In spite of this well-recognized psychology of the Latin 
American, the North American missionary in southern 
countries generally follows his own mental bent. The 
first thing he is likely to do on taking up his residence in 
a Latin country is to set up a foreign organization. 

Too often foreign workers give all their time to the 
classroom, the office, or to meetings, so that none is left 
for personal friendships, except with those who are of 
their own circle and those whom they hope to secure as 
members of their organization. There are thousands of 
forward-looking men in South America who are anxious 
for fellowship with people who know the outside world. 
Time spent with such men would often redound to the 
great good of the people whom the missionary has gone 
to serve. Many might never become members of the mis- 


THE VENTURE AT MONTEVIDEO 23 


sionaries’ organizations, but some would, and all would 
contribute to the missionaries’ life-purpose. 

Several experiments have been tried recently in which 
missionary work is carried on in a way that will go along 
with the current of custom and that will not set up un- 
necessarily difficult barriers immediately on the establish- 
ment of work, and these are giving most interesting re- 
sults. The Scotch Mission in Lima, instead of starting, 
as was the custom, with small preaching services, began 
with a small day-school, which has been built up until it 
now carries a secondary course and fits young men for 
the National University. The whole work of the mission 
has been limited so far to the building up of that school. 
And they have not started evangelistic work, one asks? 
Perhaps not, according to our rigid Anglo-Saxon method 
of thinking, in which evangelistic work must mean a meet- 
ing-house and all its accompaniments. But no one can go 
into the dormitory where the boys of the school are 
boarded and into the classes where they are taught with- 
out realizing how far-reaching is the evangelistic work 
that is being done among them. 

It was significant that the Montevideo Congress voted 
to endorse the “Conferencia sin culto’’; that is, the public 
presentation of the Christian message, under certain con- 
ditions, without the accompanying Protestant ritual of 
Bible reading, singing, and prayer. Some may regard it 
as “selling out” not to put the Protestant mark on all that 
one does and all that one publishes, and ¢o fail to an- 
nounce in every company to what organization one be- 
longs. But to do so often keeps perfectly good people 
who are honestly interested in the truth from examining 
one’s presentation of it. 

South America is open to the message of Christ. But 


24 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


she does not like the purely Anglo-Saxon method of pre- 
senting that message, nor does she like much emphasis on 
dogma. Said a very fine Chilean gentleman recently, 
when expressing his inability to join a Protestant Church, 
“IT will do anything for Christ, but nothing for contro- 
versy.” Whether we like it or not, it is very evident that 
without more than a preaching program we may be in 
cities like Buenos Aires, Havana, Lima, and Santiago the 
rest of the age, and still the people will be ignorant of or 
indifferent to our presence. 

A professor in the Normal School in Peru said: “The 
kind of religion we would accept would be one that em- 
phasized beauty, love, and service—one that takes you 
away from fear. I left the Catholic Church because they 
were always talking about the infierno. Perhaps it will 
be as horrible as they say, but I propose to have at least a 
little respite from it. We want something encouraging, 
not an everlasting threat. Teach us a religion that exalts 
life and service, and we will accept it.” 

The Congress showed a deep sympathy with expres- 
sions of this kind. One of the members of a Commission 
went so far as to suggest “the creation of groups of reli- 
gious fraternities less restricted than churches, permit- 
ting the admission of such Catholics as may wish to 
deepen their religious life among likeminded people, yet 
in a form not incompatible with their own Church loyalty. 
These groups should also have room for those who have 
sympathy with Christian ideals, but who are not ready 
to ally themselves to any of the existing churches.” 

The findings of the Congress recommended: 

“In view of the fact that there exist in all large centers 
groups of people belonging especially to the educated 
classes who, while being sincere Christians or being in- 


THE VENTURE AT MONTEVIDEO 25 


terested in Christianity in a general way, are not disposed 
to associate themselves with any of the existing churches, 
we recommend that specially prepared men be set apart to 
work with these groups with a view to leading them to a 
full experience of Christ, and by gradual and natural 
stages lead them to a full outward expression of their 
faith.” 


FOR FURTHER READING 


The books named below contain material on subjects discussed 
in other chapters of this book and are recommended as a valuable 
selected library for any group or individual. 


Christian Work in South America. Reports of Commissions on 
Unoccupied Fields, Indians, Education, Evangelism, Social 
Movements, Health Ministry, Church in the Community, Re- 
ligious Education, Literature, Relations between Foreign and 
National Workers, Special Religious Problems, Cooperation and 
Unity. Revell Co., New York. 1925. 

Latin America. W. R. SHEPHERD. Holt & Co., New York. 1914. 

Latin America and the United States. Granam H. Stewart. 
Century Co., New York. 

Latin America, Its Rise and Progress. F. Garcia CALDERON, 
Scribner’s Sons, New York. 1918. 

Makers of South America. MarcAreTTtE DANIELS. Missionary 
Education Movement, New York. 

New Days in Latin America. WeExSTER E. BRowNniING. Missionary 
Education Movement, New York. 1925. 

Problems in Pan Americanism. S. G. INMAN. Doran Co., New 
York. 1925. 

South of Panama. E. A. Ross. Century Co., New York. 1915. 


Most important for fresh information not found in books are 
the files of the last two years of the following magazines, which 
should be consulted without fail: 


Bulletin of the Pan-American Union. Washington, D. C. 

Current History Magazine of the New York Times. New York. 

Inter-America. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 
New York. 

Missionary Review of the World. 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. 


10. 


ak. 


QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 


CuHaptTer II 


. What are your impressions concerning the strength or weak- 


ness of Evangelical work in Latin America? 

How far is the success of mission work dependent on unity 
of program among the various denominational agencies ? 

Is there any just reason for South Americans to believe that 
there is any connection between the movement from North 
America for spiritual penetration and the one for economic 
penetration ? 

How does the appeal of Protestant missions in South America 
compare with the same in other parts of the world? 
What do you consider to be the most important lines for the 
present development of Evangelical work in South America? 
Are there any reasons why the Christian message in Latin 
America should be any more or any less social in character 
than in the United States? 

Is it proper for missionary forces to develop cooperative rela- 
tions with governments in social work; with such groups as 
laborers, students, and women’s clubs? What practical results 
might be expected from such relations? 

Would it be wise to appoint a North American Social Service 
Secretary and a Public Health expert for South America; if 
so, what should be their main work? 

How far should the North American missionary seek to se- 
cure the adoption in South America of his country’s program 
of prohibition and other social reforms? 

After a study of the program called for by the findings of the 
Congress, which of its features seem to be most important for 
North Americans to foster? 

Would mission boards be justified in reducing expenditures on 
their own denominational program in order to share in the 
interdenominational program projected at Montevideo? 


II 
SOME FRUITS OF THE VENTURE 


Latin America is the only part of the world where a 
continent-and-a-half speaks practically the same _ lan- 
guage and has, essentially, the same problems and ideals. 
It is inspiring to plan a united program for a whole coun- 
try. But to serve unitedly one of the great sections of 
the world, embracing twenty republics, is a far more chal- 
lenging task. 

The Montevideo Congress had as its basis eight years’ 
experience of organized cooperation, as the Commission 
on Cooperation and Unity pointed out: 


The recent rapid development of the influence of Evangelical 
forces in Latin America owes much to the new spirit of unity 
which is impressing the people in general. The city of Rio de 
Janeiro is one of the largest centers of the Protestant Church in 
the Latin world. The combined offices of the Committee on 
Cooperation in Brazil, of the Brazilian Sunday School Association, 
of the American Bible Society, and of the National Committee 
of the Young Men’s Christian Association occupy two whole 
floors of a downtown office building in Rio de Janeiro. In San- 
tiago, Chile, there are now some sixty foreign workers. Mis- 
sionaries are called to teach in the university, to servé on examin- 
ing boards of state schools, and to occupy prominent places in 
social movements. In Buenos Aires the Young Men’s Christian 
Association has on its staff some of the best-known leaders in 
social reform in Argentina. Colegio Americano, supported by the 
Methodist Church and the Church of the Disciples, is secur- 
ing the attention of state educators, even in that metropolitan 
center. Montevideo boasts of the finest Evangelical church 
building for Spanish-speaking peoples in the world. In 
Montevideo and Sao Paulo the Evangelicals have the two best- 


27 


28 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


equipped girls’ schools in South America. In Lima, Peru, a 
missionary has been elected a regular member of the faculty of 
the exclusive University of San Marcos. In the city of Mexico 
an audience of a thousand often gathers on Sunday evening in 
one of the churches. This same church has a Sunday school of 
some six hundred members. In Porto Rico the Evangelical 
Church is recognized as the most aggressive force for social 
reform. 

Organizers of the Panama Congress and workers on the Com- 
mittee on Cooperation in Latin America may well take courage 
at the part this movement has had in bringing the Evangelical 
work to its present strength. The difference between the impact 
of the Evangelical work in the community in 1916 and at present 
is truly remarkable. It has been brought about by a united study 
of the task, a united program of action, the presentation of a- 
united front before the community, and a broader, more positive, 
more comprehensive, conception of the service to be rendered. 


SOCIAL MINDEDNESS 


The discussion of practically every major topic at 
Montevideo was approached from the point of view of 
the new social awakening in South America. In contrast 
to the Panama Congress the Montevideo gathering had 
three commissions appointed to study especially these 
questions; namely, “Social Movements,” “Health Minis- 
try,” and “The Church in the Community.” These re- 
ports represented a new interest in social questions by the 
Evangelical Church of South America. 

But the Congress was very sure of the social implica- 
tions of the gospel. It was the Commission on Evan- 
gelism that raised the following questions: 


Has organized Evangelical Christianity in South America 
anything to say to the working-man as to his relationships with 
his employer? Has it any message to the employer regarding his 


SOME FRUITS OF THE VENTURE 29 


relationships with his working-men? Has it anything to say 
regarding the profits which a man may legitimately take from 
his business? Has the Church any message as to the right of 
the laboring classes to a larger share of the fruits of production? 
Has it anything to say as to the number of days a man shall 
work in a week, or the number of hours during which he shall 
work within a given day? Shall the Church have anything to 
say as to the age at which children may be taken from their 
homes and thrust into the industrial world? Has Evangelical 
Christianity anything to say about the peon system in vogue in 
so many Latin American countries? Has it anything to say as 
to the exploitation of the natural resources of the land by a 
favored few, while the great majority of the people live in 
misery? Has it anything to say as to the housing conditions in 
our great cities and in our country places? Has organized 
Evangelical Christianity any word regarding the health and gen- 
eral sanitation of our cities and country? 

Throughout practically the whole history of the organized 
labor movement its adherents have seemed to think that the 
Church is a capitalistic organization. Has Evangelical Christian- 
ity in Latin America done anything to disprove this statement? 
Have its leaders shown themselves in any special way to be the 
friends of the exploited groups in the national life? Has Evan- 
gelical Christianity any word to say as to the militaristic policy 
of the land in which it is working? Have the churches any 
distinct mission of peace and international good-will? 


Dr. Ernesto Nelson, of Buenos Aires, frankly told the 
Congress that the future of the Evangelical Church in 
South America depended largely on its interest in the 
social problems that are stirring the continent. He 
said: 

“Let me reveal to you a secret, which is that there is 
an extended idea in these countries that there is a bond 
of union between the movements of spiritual penetration 
and the great commercial and industrial organizations of 
the United States. It is supposed that by gaining the 


30 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


children in the early years of their life and impressing 
them favorably toward North American institutions, these 
impressions will remain for all time, and aside from these 
impressions being Christian, they will also be favorable 
toward commercial penetration. These ideas may be en- 
tirely erroneous, but in order that Christianity may be 
rightly interpreted and these suspicions allayed, there 
must be no question about your sincerity and your love, 
which must be shown by your interest in our social prob- 
lems. 

“T am sorry to say that in the numerous congresses on 
social problems which have been recently held there 
has been little evidence of the interest of North Ameri- 
cans in these social questions. Nevertheless, there is an 
enormous work for you to do because of your larger ex- 
perience in these matters. It is sometimes true that these 
countries have an almost perfect social legislation but the 
laws are not carried out in practise. This is largely due 
to the fact that there are no trained men and women who 
are both capable and willing to make necessary sacrifices 
for the enforcement of such laws. I am sure that one of 
the factors which has kept down suspicion concerning 
the Young Men’s Christian Association has been its will- 
ingness to help in our social problems. Thus the ‘House 
of the Child’ in Buenos Aires, a work carried on by a 
group of members of the Young Men’s Christian Asso- 
ciation, has greatly contributed to a demonstration of the 
good-will of the Association toward Argentina. Also, 
the willingness of the secretaries of the Association to 
contribute to the physical education and development of 
national institutions has been a further demonstration of 
this interest. | 

“There is a wonderful opportunity for the Evangelical 


SOME FRUITS OF THE VENTURE 31 


forces to show an interest in physical education in such 
organizations as orphanages, reformatories, and prisons. 
Praise should be given to the Methodist orphanage of 
Mercedes which has been the only Evangelical organiza- 
tion which was ready to seize the opportunity for co- 
operation with the government in the caring for delin- 
quents when the new law concerning minors was passed.” 

The serious way in which the Congress accepted the 
duty of the Church toward Christianizing the social order 
in South America is clearly seen in the following find- 
ings, which, if carried out, would revolutionize the 
Church’s program and influence. 


Inasmuch as the so-called “individual” and “social” gospels 
constitute two essential and complementary aspects of the gospel 
of Christ, we consider that no Christian Church fully discharges 
its mission unless it ministers to human welfare in both a 
physical and a spiritual sense. 

The Congress would express its deep interest in all movements 
tending toward the application of the principles of Christ for the 
improvement of the physical, mental, moral, and social habits and 
standards of the members of the community and their environ- 
mental conditions and influences. There are many such move- 
ments seeking to raise the level of individual and community life. 

Recognizing the importance of cooperation with the govern- 
ment forces and with other institutions in a study and solution 
of such social problems as child welfare, personal and domestic 
hygiene, public health, housing, wholesome recreation, civic re- 
sponsibility, alcohol, gambling, prostitution, illiteracy, etc., it is 
recommended: 

That each church make a study of its district and the condi- 
tions therein existing. 

That existing theological and moral schools add to their present 
curricula courses for the training of leaders for social work. 

That each of the Regional Committees appoint a sub-com- 
mittee on Social Service for the study of its field and to outline 
a program of action. 


32 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


That the Committee on Cooperation in New York provide in 
its budget, when possible, for the selection and support of a 
competent specialist for the work of this continent, including 
office and traveling expenses. 

It is recommended that the churches give special attention to 
cooperation with local movements for temperance, furnishing 
leaders so far as possible where they are lacking; that at least 
an annual sermon on temperance be preached in every church, 
and that pastors urge church members to become total abstainers. 

Since Christ Himself made no unequal distinctions between 
men and women, the Evangelical forces should educate public 
opinion to stand squarely for equal rights and duties of men and 
women before the law, and for an equal standard of morality 
in its highest interpretation. 

One of the chief difficulties in the way of aggressive Christian 
effort in South American countries is the absence of Christian 
public opinion. In view of the fact that the mind of Christ 
cannot be realized on moral, social, and economic questions with- 
out the cooperation of a healthy public opinion, we urge the 
churches to take all possible steps to foster the growth of such 
opinion. 

In order to stimulate and guide interest in the social aspects 
of Christianity, Mission Boards would do well to express them- 
selves on this subject to their representatives on the field. 

We recognize the importance of agricultural missions as a 
form of community service and recommend that such missions 
should, either through direct effort or by means of organized 
agricultural societies, promote community life by holding annual 
fairs which should represent the interests of the whole 
community. 

In order that pastors may be in a position to give the necessary 
leadership in community enterprises, we recommend that courses 
in social science form part of the curriculum of all theological 
seminaries. 

While recognizing the existence in some cities of good hos- 
pitals, well-trained physicians, and modern clinical facilities, we 
recognize the need of providing such health service in rural and 
other districts. Christ healed, taught, and preached. Can we 
afford to omit one of the means which He used? Why should 


SOME FRUITS OF THE VENTURE 33 


medical work be established in South America? Because tens 
of thousands of lepers on this continent challenge Christianity; 
because huge tracts in some Republics are without a medical man; 
because many towns have no medical attendance; or, at best, the 
visit of a physician once or twice a year; because in a city of 
approximately a million inhabitants there is no children’s hospital 
or special care for tubercular patients; because in at least one 
country six out of ten children die before reaching the age of 
two years. 

In order to help to remedy these conditions, it is recom- 
mended that there should be put into the field, under interde- 
nominational auspices, a highly-trained medical and _ health 
specialist to make a thorough study of medical and health con- 
ditions on the South American continent; to formulate a far- 
seeing, comprehensive policy of health education; to serve as 
expert adviser on these matters to the Church Boards; to co- 
operate with the national health forces. 

We rejoice in the growing social idealism of the University 
students of South America and in the devotion they have shown 
in the practical application of their ideals, and we recommend 
that the churches take steps to establish closer working relation- 
ships with them in the solving of the social problems of the 
continent. | 


Among the most notable of all the declarations of the 
Congress was the following resolution unanimously 
adopted : 


We recommend to all the Christian forces which are at work 
on the American eontinent that they make a study of the causes 
and cure of war, and that they both work and pray unceasingly 
that the spirit of peace and the practise of justice may eliminate 
from the world, once and for all, the terrible curse of war. 

Christ calls us to universal brotherhood. Peace in industry 
and among the nations, economic security for all, the elevation 
of the classes without opportunities, the development of backward 
races, the enrichment of all peoples by the free interchange of 
scientific and spiritual discoveries, the complete realization of 


34 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


our highest human possibilities—all await the recognition and 
practise of universal brotherhood. We therefore call upon all 
Christian forces to purge their hearts of all suspicion, prejudice, 
and selfishness ; to begin now to treat all men as brothers; to foster 
the spirit of good-will in schools and churches by voice and by 
pen; to challenge all sources of discord between national and inter- 
national groups; to establish such personal contacts with men of 
different faiths and social status and national affiliations as shall 
become a leaven of brotherhood all over the continent; to study 
sympathetically the activities of men and women in other lands 
in order that knowledge may banish suspicion; to become leaders 
at home in the development of a conscience whose touchstone is 
the Golden Rule of Christ. 


OPPORTUNITY 


The Congress met in a spirit of optimism concerning 
the great future of South America, the new spiritual 
awakening on the Continent and the opportunities offered: 
to the Evangelical Church in serving the people. The 
findings declared: 


South America holds a large and rapidly growing place in the 
life of the world. Capital and people are pouring in from the 
older and overcrowded countries to develop its immense natural 
resources and occupy its fertile plains. There exist here all the 
conditions that make for great movements and great consequences 
to humanity. The wisest development, therefore, of the political, 
economic, and social life of the continent, as well as its impact 
on the world, makes it imperative that South America shall be 
enabled to have the highest spiritual development. The great 
problem of both continents, north and south, is a religious prob- 
lem. While on the one hand the masses have inadequate oppor- 
tunity to rise out of their deep economic, intellectual, and spiritual 
poverty, the directing classes remain largely indifferent to reli- 
gion as a vital factor in human progress. 

The peoples of South and North America absolutely require the 


SOME FRUITS OF THE VENTURE 35 


ministry which Christianity has to offer, and the ever-growing 
place of these countries in the life of the world makes it impera- 
tive that they be adequately furnished with the forces that make 
for the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, 


In regard to the status of the Evangelical Church in 
South America, the Congress was told by the Commis- 
sion on Unoccupied Fields that while the past eight years 
can record for the continent no spectacular accretions to 
the churches, there are evidences that Divine favor has 
blessed the work with a steady growth. In influence and 
range of service, and in some respects numerically, the 
advance made in the republics since 1916 has been greater 
than that of the entire preceding period from 1855, when 
the Protestant enterprise was first permanently planted 
in Brazil. 


The number of organized churches in the continent has grown 
from 856 to 1,283, an increase of 50 per cent. The communicant 
membership has added 29,029, which is almost one fourth of the 
present total membership (122,266), and a 31 per cent increment 
over the membership of 1916 (93,237). 

The total Evangelical community has more than doubled. It 
has grown from 122,875 to 251,196, an increase of 128,321. The 
number of Sunday-school pupils and teachers has increased from 
50,739 to 108,599, a gain of over 100 per cent. 

To the staff of national Christian workers 662 have been added. 
From 1,342 it has grown to 2,004, a gain of slightly over 50 per 
cent. During the eight years 529 new foreign missionaries have 
entered the continent—approximately 30 per cent of the present 
total number of workers from abroad (1,736). 

The number of out-stations and other places exclusive of resi- 
dence stations, where worship and preaching are conducted, has 
grown by 1,296, from 895 to 2,191, a gain of over 140 per cent. 
The Evangelical centers or resident stations have increased by 98, 
from 267 to 365, a gain of 37 per cent. 


36 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


The largest numerical advance, both actual and proportionate, 
has been made in Brazil; Argentina and Chile follow next in 
order. In Brazil the total Evangelical community has more than 
doubled, the communicant church membership has increased more 
than one third, the number of organized churches more than one 
half, the national workers have grown nearly 100 per cent, the 
ordained Brazilian ministers 33 per cent. Forty-five new central 
or residence stations have been established. Other places of 
preaching and worship have grown from 364 to 1,765, an almost 
five-fold gain. 


A continent within a continent 


That an immense interior territory of solid extent, embracing 
the hinterlands of many countries, lies almost wholly outside the 
present spheres of Evangelical activity, has long been known in 
a general way. The mere tracing of its boundaries should suffice 
to indicate how colossal is the unaccomplished task of penetrat- 
ing the whole continent with the gospel of Christ. 

The configuration of the area in question would, with com- 
paratively slight irregularities, resemble that of South America 
itself. It is indeed a continent within a continent. The northern 
curve of a line enclosing it, beginning at the Equator on the 
Andean plateau, would include (1) Ecuador above Quito, from 
the central mountains to the Colombian divide; (2) all of Colom- 
bia, south of Cali and Bogota and east of the Cordillera Oriental, 
with an upward dip into the Cordillera Central, and the Cauca 
Valley to the border of Antiochia; (3) Venezuela, south of the 
Caribbean States, about nine tenths of the whole republic; (4) 
British and Dutch Guiana, except a coast strip of about forty 
miles; (5) all of French Guiana. Continuing eastward and 
southward the curve would embrace (6) all of Brazil, except 
maritime sections of the northern states from Para to Rio 
Grande do Norte, the eastern and southern coast states from 
Parahyba to central Bahia, and from the lower two thirds of 
Minas Geraes to Rio Grande do Sul; (7) all of Uruguay, except 
its southern departments and a short fringe of territory along its 
western river; (8) the interfluvial Argentine region west of the 
Uruguay River; (9) large sections of central and western Argen- 
tina, from the Bolivian Chaco to the Territory of the Pampas, 


SOME FRUITS OF THE VENTURE 37 


and almost the whole of the Patagonian peninsula from Rio 
Negro to the Strait of Magellan. Turning northward on the 
western side, the line would enclose roughly (10) the eastern half 
of Chile, with several curves west of the Andes; (11) the 
eastern half and the northern departments of Peru, with im- 
mense loops to the Pacific Coast in the central and southern 
zones; (12) and, finally, the southern half and eastern two thirds 
of Ecuador, in addition to the section above the Equator; (13) 
Bolivia, and (14) Paraguay, being inland republics, are neces- 
sarily included within the border drawn. 

The “continent within a continent” equals more than a third of 
all Asia, more than a half of all Africa. It constitutes for 
Evangelical Christianity from the territorial viewpoint, not only 
the premier field in South America, but the largest geographical 
expanse of unworked territory to be found on the face of the 
earth. 


In the presentation to the Congress of this report, Mr. 
Charles J. Ewald, Secretary of the Continental Com- 
mittee of the Young Men's Christian Association, said: 


The report shows: 


1, That it is the right and the duty of the Evangelical forces 
to be in South America. The facts set forth make this unmis- 
takably clear. The great problem of South America is the need 
of a vital, living religion emphasizing duty, morality, and service. 
Such a religion is needed: 

a) That a true democracy based on moral culture may be 
developed. 

b) That the masses may be helped to rise out of their deep 
economic, moral, and spiritual poverty to share in the blessings 
which God intends for all. 

c) That the directing classes may be increasingly conscious of 
their responsibility to the people whose destinies they shape. 

d) That the people individually and collectively may be 
helped to attain the full meaning of Christianity, both for their 
own sakes and because of the increasing importance of South 
America in the modern world. 


38 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


2. That the new conditions which now obtain in South America 
encourage everyone to hopefulness. In recent years crises are 
constantly taking place which have much significance. 

a) There are notable efforts being put forth to obtain a truer 
democracy. 

b) There is a social awakening especially among industrialists, 
whose leaders while largely unfriendly to religion are so because 
they fail to understand it. They need to be shown that true 
religion is their ally in all just aspirations and that the masses 
have not only rights but duties. 

c) There has been an ethical revival. Movements have devel- 
oped among various classes. 

d) At the other extreme of society is the younger intellectual 
group with an idealism which seeks new leadership. Many evi-. 
dences of this attitude may be stated: 

(1) A demand for greater sincerity and reality in their 
intellectual guide. 
(2) A demand for social justice for all groups of society. 
(3) A growing sympathy and cooperation between the 
younger intellectuals and the working classes. 
(4) A demand for international righteousness and for means 
other than war for settling differences between nations. 
(5) A new interest in social questions, such as child wel- 
fare, public health, or physical education. 
(6) A readiness shown by university students to teach and 
assist members of the working class. 
(7) A new appreciation of moral and spiritual values. 
(8) A new sense of responsibility on the part of the leaders. 
(9) A spirit of service and sacrifice for the general welfare. 
(10) A wholly new interest in religion among students and 
the younger intellectuals. 
3. That the Evangelical forces are inadequate to the greatness 
and urgency of this task so that the following program is dis- 
tinctly demanded: 

a) A fresh effort by the Evangelical forces to present Christ 
and His program to the great government student groups. This ~ 
work has largely been assigned to the Associations, but the 
churches should be closely linked to these groups. 

(1) In the long run they are the ones who will lead popular 


SOME. FRUITS OF THE VENTURE 39 


activities. They are also those who virtually determine the 

attitude of the people toward religion. 

(2) They are a great present force in the making of public 
opinion, 

(3) They are the class which is most open to idealistic ap- 
peals today and most ready to listen to Evangelical truth. 

(4) They are very accessible when properly approached. On 
the entire continent there is only a total of 50,000 grouped in 
forty centers. 

(5) No Evangelical church today is making a serious effort 
to influence this group. 

b) A special effort to influence the eat se) directing classes 
generally. Today this group is but slightly influenced by Evan- 
gelical effort. What communion can we name which makes an 
adequate effort to reach them? In this type of evangelistic work, 
just as in educational work, our aim must be the spiritual service 
of the people and not the mere building up of churches or church 
institutions. The results gained in this special type of work 
cannot for a long while be measured by church statistics. 

c) The educational institutions of primary and secondary grade 
should be increased in number and quality. In addition to their 
direct educational service, these institutions are invaluable for the 
breaking down of prejudice and for creating respect for the Evan- 
gelical cause. 

d) Much larger responsibility must be given as rapidly as pos- 
sible to the nationals. There have been great recent gains. Lead- 
ers have arisen who share in our responsibility. 

e) Our Evangelical churches must be less concerned with insti- 
tutional growth and more concerned with the Christian message 
if they would serve well the present hour. May we not trust 
that God will lead His people into the creation of the needed insti- 
tutions for their development? 

f) The quality rather than the quantity of our work should be 
emphasized. 

g) During the next two or three years there should be a great 
united effort through lectures, publications, social service, and 
personal interviews to bring the Christian message to all classes 
of society. If one single committee could properly organize three 
hundred earnest Evangelicals for this task and use them for five 


40 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


years, more would be achieved than during twenty-five years of 
current procedure, and more than has ever been accomplished up 
to date. 

h) We should recognize the evil of our present denominational 
division among a people to whom denominational traditions are 
meaningless and bewildering. We should also make a sincere and 
earnest effort to give to each South American country one united 
Evangelical Church. 


This cooperative Christian service for a whole conti- 
nent was set forward a long way by the Congress at 
Montevideo. The findings call for the following prac- 
tical demonstrations of unity, which are to be carried out. 
largely by the General Committee on Cooperation in 
Latin America and the regional cooperative committees: 


CooPERATIVE UNDERTAKINGS REQUESTED BY THE MONTEVIDEO 
CONGRESS 


Personnel 


A specialist in social service for South America 

A specialist in public health in South America 

A publication agent for South America 

A secretary for cooperation for Spanish-speaking South 

America 

5. Secretaries for certain regional committees of cooperation 

6. Apologetic lecturers 

7. Workers among students in university centers and among 
special groups of educated people, supported cooperatively 

8. Workers among Indians supported cooperatively 


sels steht tee 


Enterprises 


— 
* 


A continental evangelistic campaign 
2. A continental survey of religious education and the develop- 
ment of an indigenous curriculum for South American Sun- 





18. 


19. 


SOME FRUITS OF THE VENTURE 41 


day schools, with literature produced through the Committee 
on Cooperation in Latin America 


. A Latin American conference of Evangelical publishers and 


editors 


. Apologetic lecturers both by nationals and foreigners 
. Cooperative community surveys 

. United continental program for public health 

. A union hymn-book in Spanish and one in Portuguese 
. Literature on Social Service 

. More cooperative publication centers and union papers 


Prizes for literary production 


. Union work among Indians 
. Union international theological schools, with schools of so- 


cial sciences and languages 


. Union agricultural schools 
. Federation of young people’s societies 
. United prayer league 


Common name “Evangelical” for churches, with denomina- 
tional name in parenthesis when necessary 


. Special studies requested for the following subjects: 


Immigration 
Social and economic movements 
Cause and Cure of war 
Assembling of data on religious education in the home 
Data referring to condition and amount of business of 
Evangelical bookstores 
Conferences—regular annual meetings for: 
General workers 
Educationists 
Religious Education workers 
Purchase of permanent grounds for conferences 
General committees for South America that will need co- 
ordination through a general agency: 
A continental committee on evangelism 
A continental committee on social service 
A continental committee on curriculum of religious 
education 
A federation of national churches recommended wherever 
possible 


42 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


Thus the outstanding accomplishment of the Monte- 
video Congress was the development of the feeling of 
solidarity among the Evangelical churches in South 
America, which, reaching beyond national and denomina- 
tional boundaries, unanimously outlined a cooperative 
program that would challenge a continent to accept the 
teachings of Jesus. Will mission boards do their part in 
carrying out this tremendously challenging program? 

If sufficient men and money were found to carry out 
this great program, would it not have a larger effect in | 
South America in the next few years than would twenty 
times as much expenditure in denominational enterprises ? 
The great doors open to the Evangelical Church by the 
marked social awakening of South America present the — 
most remarkable opportunity a church has ever con- 
fronted in that continent. But this opportunity is pre- 
sented to the Evangelical Church working as a unit. In- 
dividual denominations acting separately in their own 
name will find it impossible to meet the demands or sat- 
isfy the desire of this wonderfully awakened people. 

During the Congress there was hung behind the speak- 
er’s desk a map of South America. During the first days 
of the gathering, as one looked at the map there seemed 
to be quite a clear line of division between the various 
nations. ‘The great river systems, the high mountains, 
and the rich plains of South America stood out promi- 
nently. As the days proceeded, the map seemed to change, 
the physical features lost their prominence, and one be- 
gan to see a great procession of human beings moving 
up and down the continent. As the dividing lines be- 
tween Argentina and Brazil, Chile and Peru and the other 
nations melted away, there pressed upon one’s vision the 
fifty millions of peons, the ten millions of Indians, 





SOME FRUITS OF THE VENTURE 43 


seventy-five thousand university students, the great num- 
ber of teachers and merchants, the growing middle 
classes, the skilled artisans and the laborers in factories 
and mines—all of these moved up and down the map. 
The workmen in their newly organized labor movements, 
the women in their newly developed feminist movement, 
the students with their new social-mindedness, the work- 
ers for temperance reform, for social justice, and for a 
new expression of democracy, day by day these came 
closer to our vision. Finally, on the last great day, when 
the Spirit had fused us all into one united body, the 
countless multitudes on the map seemed to change into 
one composite face—the face of the Christ. It was He 
dwelling in the souls of these multitudes that was calling 
to the delegates of the Congress to minister to South 
America—to minister, not in any patronizing spirit or 
self-centered egotism or pharisaical self-laudation, but 
with the simple desire of doing good as Jesus of Naza- 
reth went about doing good. 


FOR FURTHER READING 


Cooperative Technique for Conflict, A. The Inquiry, New York. 


Whither Bound in Missions. D. J. FLeminc. Association Press. 
New York. 1925. 


For further references, see books listed at the end of Chapter I. 


QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 


CHAPTER III 


Do frank discussions concerning delicate and profound inter- 
national, social, and religious questions, coupled with keen > 
criticism, do more good than harm? 
. Should North Americans seek to suppress criticism of their | 
country or should they welcome it? 

. Do North American missionaries in Latin America strengthen 
the commercial and financial influence of their country in 
South America? If so, is that to be desired? | 
. Is the United States making a deliberate attempt to direct the 
policies of Latin America and draw it away from Europe? If 
so, is such a policy right? 

. Is it possible for “the Protestants of the North and the Catho- 
lics of the South” to work together against materialism which 
threatens all America? 

. Does religion occupy the same place in North and South Ameri- 
can life? 

. What is the status of Pan-Americanism today? 

. Should the United States favor or oppose an American League 
of Nations? 

. Are the questions raised by the Latin Americans in the opening 
of the Montevideo Congress vital to the North American mis- 
sionary program? 


III 
THE NIGHT OF THE OPEN HEART 


It was the “Night of the Open Heart”? in the cultured 
and cosmopolitan city of Montevideo. In the assembly 
hall of the Hotel Pocitos, situated by the side of the sea 
and removed from the traffic of the city, there were gath- 
ered the representatives of eighteen nations—South 
Americans, North Americans, and Europeans, Protes- 
tants and Catholics, nationals and foreigners, Anglo- 
Saxons and Latins. With all of our differences in his- 
tory, in environment, in psychology, in ideals, we were 
all there on a great venture in international friendship. 
Such a conglomerate representation of different nations, 
different schools of thought, and different theologies may 
_ have met before on the American continent but certainly 
none had ever met with such a full determination of mak- 
ing the great venture of the “Open Heart.” 

With fear and trembling, with anticipation and with a 
certain joy, the meeting of the “Open Heart” was called 
to order. At the invitation of the North Americans the 
program had been prepared by a half dozen of the South 
Americans, who took part in the meeting. Two of these 
were not in any way connected with the North American 
missionary enterprise. The others were not dependent 
financially or otherwise on North American organization, 
neither were they members of a Protestant church. 

The presiding officer was Professor Erasmo Braga 

1 The Montevideo Congress opened on Sunday, March 29, 1925, 
and the Monday evening following was set aside as the “Night 
of the Open Heart.” At this meeting a number of South Amer- 


ican leaders were invited to speak to the Congress freely and 
frankly of what was in their hearts to say to North Americans. 


45 


46 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


of Brazil. On the morning of the first day of organized 
meeting, Professor Braga had been elected President of 
the Congress on Christian Work in South America. He 
is a fine type of Brazilian gentleman, representative of 
the very best in the Protestantism of South America. He 
stands high in his own country, being a member of the 
Brazilian Academy of Letters, an author of note. For 
many years he was professor of modern languages in one 
of the secondary institutions of the State of Sao Paulo. | 
While holding this position, he contributed, voluntarily, 
his services as professor in the theological seminary of 
the Presbyterian churches. Some five years ago he was 
called to be the Secretary of the Committee on Coopera- 
tion in Brazil, which represents all the Evangelical forces © 
in that country. At the Panama Congress in 1916, when 
the Evangelical forces met for the first time to consider 
the social, educational, and religious problems of Latin 
America, Professor Braga was asked to write a volume 
describing this movement. That volume he called Pan- 
Americanism: Its Religious Aspects. 

On opening this remarkable meeting, Professor Braga 
declared that if he were going to write such a book again, 
he would not use that title. “‘Pan-Americanism,” he said, 
“is a depreciated term. It has lost any spiritual signifi- 
cance it may have had and has come to signify only com- 
mercial relations. It is most unfortunate that the repre- 
sentatives of the United States have generally referred 
to Pan-Americanism only as important because of com- — 
mercial relations and have therefore gradually eliminated 
the cultural and spiritual aspects of the subject. This 
has meant that the word has come to signify the com- 
mercial dominance of our countries by the United States.” 

The following are further résumés of sentiments ex- 





THE NIGHT OF THE OPEN HEART 47 


pressed to the Congress in the same frank way. Profes- 
sor Braga was followed by Dr. Ernesto Nelson, a grad- 
uate of Columbia University, New York, an Argentine 
educator who has filled many high positions in his own 
country. He has published a number of books on North 
American and South American educational problems. 
Social questions are of particular interest to him, and 
_he is now giving part of his time to various activities of 
that nature under the auspices of the Young Men’s Chris- 
tian Association in Buenos Aires. He has frequently 
been introduced as “the leading educator of South 
America.” 

The following paragraphs are quoted from Professor 
Nelson’s speech: 

“Every traveler who goes from North America to 
South America, and vice versa, is another Columbus set- 
ting out to discover a new world. 

“Hitherto Pan-American relations have been cen- 
tered around commerce. But commerce, being an expres- 
sion of material interest, cannot very well serve as the 
vehicle of higher ideals. It is necessary today more than 
ever before that Pan-Americanism be translated into a 
more complete understanding of the sources of idealism, 
of that moral strength with which every American coun- 
try is gifted; and this is especially true of the United 
States inasmuch as she is the country in America against 
which there are most prejudices born of ignorance. 

“As to the Latin countries of the continent, they are 
passing through a period of intense restlessness. Educa- 
tion in all its forms—primary, secondary, university, vo- 


1Two addresses included in this chapter were delivered on 
other days, but inasmuch as they are along the same line of 
thought, they are included here. 


48 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


cational, and agricultural, the extension of culture by 
means of libraries and social centers, the associations 
formed for philanthropic purposes, those institutions 
which exist for the public good, etc., are today uncertain 
in regard to the new paths which they ought to follow. 
The idea of surveys which have acquired such wide ac- 
ceptance in the United States have not yet been adopted 
by us. 

“It may be said that as yet not even the first step has 
been taken in the sense of bringing about an interchange © 
of experiences for the solution of identical problems in 
North and South America. 

“The press and the book have not yet begun to carry 
out an important part of their mission on the continent. . 
It is a shame to confess it, but after so many years of 
Pan-American theory, there is not today a book of any 
importance in which some phase of social life in the 
United States is described in order to serve the readers 
of Latin America who are interested from a practical 
point of view in the solution of this or that social prob- 
lem. 

“A constructive Pan-Americanism should create some 
agencies or means whereby our countries might learn from 
the experience of each other. Inasmuch as you mission- 
aries are ready to face an enormous expense connected 
with your work here, I do not see why you could not find 
the means to carry out this kind of peaceful penetration. 
The production of such a series of books in Spanish 
would be a missionary task of the highest character. 

“And now, with some misgivings, I want to tell you of 
a few impressions which may be useful in the develop- 
ment of the Evangelical work in these countries. You 
come from a land where morality has always been identi- 


THE NIGHT OF THE OPEN HEART 49 


fied with religion. In these southern lands religion, in 
the popular mind, is largely identified with immorality. 
Our people have seen so much immorality connected with 
the church, with the life of the clergy, in prayer, in the 
religious attitude toward education, in charity, in the 
lives of so-called religious people, that I cannot but feel 
that you are marching under a much discredited banner. 

“You come from lands where religious faith may be 
taken as the mark of Christian character. With us the 
very opposite is often true. To save itself, morality has 
had to sever its religious connections and look for the 
support of science. But in doing this, we eagerly try to 
discover those scientific principles furthest removed from 
| the supernatural in religion. 

“Out of ten thousand leaders in these countries whose 
help you need, out of ten thousand men and women who 
have gained moral authority with the people, out of ten 
thousand educators of the youth of these countries, 9,999 
have tried to organize their moral convictions aside from 
any touch with religious principles, which in their minds 
are associated with superstition and deception. The pro- 
cess is too far advanced to be stopped. Dr. Mackay told 
you of the young Peruvian professor to whom the name 
of God was hateful. The case of the young Peruvian 
can be duplicated any number of times among the people 
|of these lands. These Latin American societies are mor- 
tally sick of performances and beliefs that have been used 
for tyranny and oppression. They shudder at the word 
God, they shudder at the sound of religious hymns, they 
look for the clear sky when they hear the murmur of a 
prayer. 

“But after all, religion is a natural fact. If we could 
compare the quality of the feelings and motives that 


50 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


prompt our moral actions, without attempting to dress 
them with words or to express them through ceremonies, 
I am sure we could find that we live on common ground. 

“Another point to which I should like to refer is the 
lack of interest that your missionaries generally show in 
discovering those forces in our life that sustain our moral 
fabric. I have indicated how far we of the South and 
of the North seem to be from agreement in religious doc- 
trine. Yet there are many individual Christians among 
us ready to lead a life of sacrifice for the common good. 
What is the fountain of their inspiration? You ought to 
discover it and help them quench their thirst. You should 
study our great men of the past, for in them you would 
often find the moral explanation of the meaning of our 
present institutions. You might be ready to prove that 
your love for us is sincere by loving the things we love 
and revering the things we revere. I should like to see as 
a part of the program of your seminaries and technical 
. schools a course devoted to the study of agencies which 
have been and are at present the great inspirations of our 
life. I should like to see the young men studying the 
ideas of the Chilean, Francisco Bilbao; of the Peruvian, 
‘Gonzales Prada; of the Uruguayans, Varela and Rodd; 
of the Argentines, Sarmiento, Alberdi, or Echeverria. If 
there is need of an agreement in ideals among us, it can-_ 
not be reached without taking into serious consideration — 
the moral ideas of South America, for we have great 
moral forces on this continent.” 


The next speaker was Professor Eduardo Monteverde, 
often called the most beloved man of Montevideo. Don 
Eduardo is particularly a favorite with the students and 
all classes of young men. He has been professor of 


THE NIGHY OF THE OPEN. HEART © ‘51 


‘mathematics in the University for many years. He is in 
every good work in the city of his nativity. For many 
years he has given a large part of his time to the Young 
Men’s Christian Association. Unlike Professor Nelson, 
who since he left the Catholic Church has never identified 
himself with any religion, Don Eduardo has for many 
years been a loyal and enthusiastic member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. Professor Monteverde repre- 
‘sented his country at the Pan-American Scientific Con- 
gress in Washington in 1915, was President of the Con- 
gress on Christian Work in Latin America at Panama in 
1916, and has occupied some of the highest positions 
within the gift of his fellow citizens. 

“At times we say what we do not think when we are 
asked to speak,” said Professor Monteverde, “but tonight 
we are to say what we think. I have been a Christian for 
forty-five years without interruption. I have been a mem- 
ber of the church and the Sunday school and have filled 
almost every position in each of these organizations. I 
have watched the work of the churches very carefully 
during all these years. Many times I have asked myself, 
“Where are all these thousands that have been listening 
to the preaching and to the teaching of the Bible in the 
Sunday school all these years? Where are the results of 
the sacrifices of the missionaries that have come from 
foreign lands?’ I have learned in the Sunday school that 
Christ is power. Here we are in a great congress where 
representatives of Christ have come from many nations, 
and yet the press of this city is giving scarcely any atten- 
tion to this great meeting. What is the difficulty? Have 
the methods used in the past been mistaken ones? Have 
our good ministers been bad interpreters of the Christ? 
How did Christ preach? Did he confuse his pupils with 








4 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


the doctrine of the Trinity? Did he make them tremble 
with descriptions of the punishment of hell-fire? Did he 
spend much time in differentiating between the various 
denominations and advocating one as against the other? 

“The theologians have complicated the teachings of 
Jesus. In our Sunday schools we ought to concentrate 
on teaching the life of Christ. We would get many stu- 
dents if we did this. A young boy is induced to come to 
Sunday school. His father, who knows nothing about 
the Sunday school and has never read the Bible, asks the 
boy on his return about what they taught him. The child 
replies that he was taught about how Jeroboam killed 
many of his enemies. The father decides that he does: 
not care to have his boy learn about some ancient king: 
killing his enemies. In our Sunday schools we ought to 
explain Christ. Without Christ there is no Christianity 
—the Christ of power, the Christ who is here tonight, the 
Christ I came to know when I became a Christian.” 


Don Julio Navarro Monzo, a distinguished Argentine, 
formerly one of the editors of the Buenos Aires daily 
paper, La Nacion, but now a lecturer on spiritual themes 
under the auspices of the Young Men’s Christian Asso- 
ciation, spoke on the “Religious Problem as Related to 
Latin America Culture.” He said, in part: 

“The essential difference between Anglo-Saxons and 
Latins is found in the fact that the former carry on 
continually a struggle between the forces of right and 
wrong, while for the latter these forces do not exist or 
are recognized only in a small way. Yet an observer in 
Great Britain and the United States sees that today the 
people are losing interest rapidly in traditional forms of 
Christianity. Recent investigations made in Great Brit- 





THE NIGHT OF THE OPEN HEART 53 


ain by the National Union of Schools for Adults have 
demonstrated that only seventeen per cent of the popula- 
tion are found to have effective and permanent relations 
with the churches. It is possible that the same kind of 
investigations in the United States would give the same 
results. 

“Seemingly the greatest tragedy of Latin America is its 
struggle for a century to obtain a real democracy. But in 
reality the greatest of all tragedies, although less ap- 
parent, has been that, confronting such a problem, the 
leaders of these nations have not had any consciousness 
of its moral and religious aspects. Men like Alberdi and 
Sarmiento, great Argentine leaders, believed that all that 
was necessary was to translate the constitution of the 
United States from English into Spanish and to study 
carefully the juridical antecedents of English law. Time 
has shown how blind they were in this. In the light of 
history and sociology it is evident that it is not sufficient 
to copy the institutions and the laws of a people. The 
Latin Americans would like to have the democracy of the 
Anglo-Saxons without their historical precedents, without 
their culture and their emphasis on religion. It is an im- 
possible absurdity! 

“The real problem is a religious problem. Without a 
real and profound Christianity which signifies a funda- 
mental respect for all law, for the rights of individuals, 
for human fraternity, it is impossible to have a democ- 
racy. But this the spiritual leaders of Latin America 
have never been able to understand. 

“Let no one think, however, that this signifies an as- 
sertion that the people of Latin America ought to turn 
Protestant, that is to say, Lutherans, Calvinists, Wes- 
leyans, etc., in order to have democracy. If the Latin 


34 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


peoples should copy the religious institutions of Anglo- 
Saxons or Germans developed four centuries ago, they 
would make as great a mistake as when we copied their 
political institutions.” 


The next speaker was Professor Salas Marchan, Di- 
rector of the Government Normal School at Santiago, 
Chile, one of those quiet men who, with few pretensions, 
has gone to the very bottom of the educational problems 
and stands in his country for the very highest type of 
education and moral development. 

“The greatest help that I ever had in my life as a 
teacher and as a man was in visiting the schools of the, 
United States,” said Professor Marchan. “It is an in- 
spiration that will always be with me, and I know many 
South Americans who have had this privilege that count 
it as one of the great transforming experiences of their 
lives. 

“Let me appeal to you tonight to send us the very best 
teachers that you have. We need your best. Latin 
America cannot do with any other kind. I want also to 
appeal for a closer contact between the Evangelical and 
the Government schools. Your teachers too often stay 
off by themselves. They are cumbered about with many 
details. They are busy with their own problems and they 
do not associate with the teachers in the Government 
schools. We could help one another a great deal if we 
would have more contacts. Often I have heard Chilean 
teachers wonder why the North American teachers that 
come to our country do not become members of our 
teachers’ associations and take a more active part in our 
social and professional activities. Let us mingle together 
more. I am sure that your teachers can help us and you 





THE NIGHT OF THE OPEN HEART 55 


might find it possible to get help also from us if you 
would come to know us better.” 


Sr. Juan Francisco Pérez, the editor of El Diario, a 
daily paper of Asuncion, Paraguay, strong friend of the 
International Institute supported by the Disciples of 
Christ in Asuncion, said: 

“On my visit to North America I saw how many reli- 
gious groups worked together for the moral development 
of the youth. If North Americans come to help us teach 
our children and strengthen our moral and spiritual pur- 
poses, you will find that Catholics like myself will wel- 
come you; but if you come in the spirit of propaganda, 
you will scarcely find such a welcome. By working for 
moral reform, you will awaken the Catholics and do good 
in many ways. I believe that there should be a federa- 
tion of all the sects of Christianity in order that the great 
problems of today may be solved with a Christian spirit.” 


Don Enrique Molina, Director of the University of 
Concepcion, Chile, is one of those fine personalities that 
breathes idealism and spiritual acumen. After long ser- 
vice in the capital city of Santiago, with considerable time 
spent in Europe and the United States, studying educa- 
tional problems, he decided to make an experiment in 
Chile which would put to the test private initiative. He 
founded what is known as the Free University of Con- 
-cepcion in the city of Concepcion, about two hundred 
‘miles south of Santiago. This institution has grown until 
it now has some fifteen hundred students and is sup- 
ported almost entirely by private contributions of 
Chileans themselves. Professor Molina has_ studied 
closely North American educational life and has written 


56 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


two books as a result—From Harvard to Califorma and 
The Two Americas. He is probably further away from 
anything like orthodox Christian belief than any of the 
others who spoke on this memorable evening. In the 
afternoon of this day he had opened a series of addresses 
under the auspices of the Committee on Cooperation in 
Latin America at the Ateneo on the subject, “Spiritual 
Problems of Today.” But this evening he was speaking 
from the profound depths of his heart on the relations - 
between North and South America. | 

“Pan-Americanism,” he said, “is a beautiful ideal. 
We would not do our duty if we did not seek for closer 
relations between all the Americas. But unfortunately , 
people today look at Pan-Americanism with skepticism. 
In its origin it had something of the idea of the hegemony 
of the United States by means of commercial dominance. 
The sad history of Haiti, Santo Domingo, Panama, and 
Nicaragua have augmented the suspicions of the United 
States’ desire to dominate her weaker neighbors. When 
I returned from the United States, an enthusiastic be- 
liever in that country’s idealism, and told my people how 
much we could learn from her, especially concerning 
moral ideals, honesty of purpose, etc., they suffered 
through my lectures with an attitude of ‘how long must 
we listen to all this talk about the Yankees?’ 

“There is a very decided tendency today toward 
Ibero-Americanism, a getting together of all the Latin 
American countries. It is particularly strong in Mexico, 
Argentina, and Chile. In Mexico it has assumed an ag- 
gressive form. It is incorporated within the very school 
system itself and in much of the cultural life of the coun- 
try during these recent years. The University of Mexico 
has on its seal a map of that America beginning at the 


THE NIGHT OF THE OPEN HEART 57 


Rio Grande and stretching south to the Straits of Ma- 
gellan. And these words are engraved on its seal, ‘For 
my race, my spirit will speak.’ 

“In Argentina a strong sentiment has been developed 
during the last few years for this Latin American union. 
A magazine is published, backed by some of the best- 
known intellectuals of that country, in order to develop 
this union. We cannot reject this idea of a Latin Ameri- 
can union. Nor can we reject the idea of an all-Ameri- 
can cooperation. We must accept both of them. Let us 
frankly realize, however, that Pan-Americanism and the 
Monroe Doctrine are opposed to each other. Pan-Ameri- 
canism means fraternity and equality. The Monroe Doc- 
trine puts the United States above all other countries. 
This attitude Latin America cannot accept. The Monroe 
Doctrine has accomplished its mission. It was promul- 
gated in the time of the Holy Alliance when there was 
some danger that Europe would impose her monarchical 
system on America. That time has passed. Europe no 
longer threatens us. Neither Germany nor any other 
country is now a danger. The Monroe Doctrine is a 
corpse; let it be forgotten. Pan-Americanism is so far 
only a hope; let us work for its realization.” 


Dr. Baltasar Brum is a world citizen. In idealism for 
world brotherhood and in enthusiasm for international 
friendship and in advocacy of international organization, 
he is to South America what Woodrow Wilson was to 
North America. Not yet forty years of age, he has com- 
pleted a term as President of his nation. Before being 
elected to this honor he had won the confidence of his 
countrymen as a teacher of renown, a lawyer of distinc- 
tion, a member of the National Assembly, and Minister 


58 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


of Foreign Relations. When he speaks on international 
questions, a perfect torrent of eloquence pours forth. He 
carries everyone with him by his enthusiasm. With his 
vast knowledge of international affairs, with his pene- 
trating intellect, with his profound conviction of the unity 
of humanity, he presents his argument and puts forth his 
proposition with a daring that challenges the admiration 
of the most ardent isolationist. 

Dr. Brum asked: “What has happened in North Amer- 
ica, my dear friends? People everywhere are asking me 
that these days. Are the North Americans idealists or 
are they materialists? Many believe that Pan-American- 
ism means to you only commercial relations, but I am con- 
vinced that they do not know the United States. Ever 
since the day that I had the honor of being at the head of 
the Foreign Relations of my government, I have con- 
sidered it a privilege to interpret the better side of your 
country to others. 

“T knew that country when she was defending not only 
her sons and daughters, but ours as well. Such a soul as 
was displayed in those days is worthy of the friendship 
of Hispanic America. 

“May I dare to say also that the Latin peoples are 
worthy of the friendship of North America, for we too 
have often shown ourselves capable of great sacrifices 
for the principles of right and justice. Why, then, do 
these two great peoples stand aloof from each other? 
The fault lies both in the North and in the South. The 
United States is traditionally opposed to alliances. She 
believes that standing aloof from the rest of the nations 
means peace. We in South America believe that the 
isolation of the United States under present world con- 
ditions means war. We in the South believe that all 


: 





THE NIGHT OF THE OPEN HEART = 59 


America ought unitedly to help Europe to new ideals of 
peace. 

“How will world peace be brought about? Only by a 
society of nations through which the peoples of the world 
may organize themselves for the pursuit of peace and 
the adjudication of difficulties and the enforcement of 
justice. In America we need our own society of na- 
tions! Well aware are we of the difficulties in the organi- 
zation of such a society. Let us remember, however, that 
in the United States great and small states exist side by 
side. Rhode Island and Texas have found a way of liv- 
ing together in one great federation. So in South Amer- 
ica the great country of Brazil, occupying half of the 
continent, and the little nation of Uruguay, not one tenth 
of the size of its big neighbor, live side by side in har- 
mony and mutual help. So the federation of the world 
must come. A great world league we must have to treat 
all of the great world questions; then regional leagues 
that will treat their own problems. Even the United 
States, which so far has not seen fit to accept a world 
league, need not fear to join an American League of Na- 
tions. The United States, through the Monroe Doctrine, 
has already obligated itself to defend America from Eu- 
rope and could not be any more committed if it were to 
enter into a practical arrangement with the other Ameri- 
can states. 

“But, says some North American, how can we enter 
into an agreement with any other nation when our Con- 
gress is the only one that can pass on questions of war 
and peace or questions that limit in any way our sover- 
eignty? Is that true? Is it not a fact that the United 
States and every other nation that signs a treaty thereby 
limits to a certain degree its sovereignty and rights? In 


60 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


any American society it would be stipulated, of course, 
that only with the approval of the national congresses 
should anything like war be begun. Someone else ob- 
jects, ‘How is it possible for the United States to unite 
with little countries like Uruguay and Haiti in a League 
of Nations?’ It is possible by the counterbalance of au- 
thority and representation just as this has been accom- 
plished in the great and small states in any federated gov- 
ernment, 

“There are five great questions which today concern 
Inter-American relations: Pan-Americanism, the Monroe: 
Doctrine, monetary claims, nationality of children of the 
foreign-born, and Inter-American conflicts. If the power- 
ful nation of the North decides to carry on a policy of 
justice and equality with its American sisters, it should 
be our duty to cooperate with her intentions. 

“Pan-Americanism implies the equality of all sovereign- 
ties, large or small, the assurance that no country will 
attempt to diminish the possessions of others, and that 
those who have lost any possessions will have them rightly 
returned to them. It is, in short, an exponent of deep 
brotherly sentiment, and of a just aspiration for the 
material and moral aggrandizement of all the peoples of 
America. 

“The Monroe Doctrine has constituted on the whole an 
efficacious safeguard to the territorial integrity of many 
American countries. Owing to the state in which the 
European countries remain after the War, it may be said 
that fear of conquests by them in America has been re- 
moved for many years. But, is that sufficient reason for 
us to take no interest in future Inter-American relations, 
repudiating all that the Monroe Doctrine legitimately 
stands for? JI think not. Today, more than ever, we 


THE NIGHT OF THE OPEN HEART 61 


shonid revezl our foresight, searchme for formule that 
May assure forever peace and the full mdependence of 
America countries. 

“Americas countries have enjoyed territorial imdepend- 
ence Get not zlweys am absofate soveraenty, because the 
lecger moffoms offes coriaded it by means of monetary 
cizams me fever of ther civens who, mstead of tak- 
me thes clams te the local comrss, m@ accordance with 
the ews of the coontry, went te the Lecotions of ther 
@ refuse! of fostee =p tits wey spece! privileges were 
granted te the foresters. m prejudice of the nationals. 

“Ts the moferests of afl, if ts necessary thet those mone 
tasy clams Giszppeer from America for ail te, and to 
Concert of America is organized, tham t refuse to recoe- 
mize fe mehts of the Powers fo remove any ordmary 
case from fhe safione! perisdictem reporimg tt to the 
Leegoe. should sock am aifempt be made The definite 
teaitzation of such em object would complete the work of 
eur ifersfors. becamse. thanks t it mdependence would 
free of the Seeotitetom witch some erect Powers heve 
ee= accustomed ip Empose on i 

“No intervention of offer countries m miermal ques- 
amd tiat there wes mo meferm! mferest m the mafier, 
two thirds of the assecaied countries decide to mfervene. 
These are soll impertent questions of boundaries winch 
emfterrass mamy Americas countries, amd even though 
these countries eve already jomed the Lezeue of N2- 
Gens, wick morally binds them to accept its mediation, 


62 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


such disputes could be dealt with much more satisfac- 
torily through an American League. 

“The organization of the American League is, in my 
opinion, a logical sequence to the Versailles Treaty of 
Peace, which, in recognizing and expressly accepting the 
Monroe Doctrine, seems to be desirous of limiting its 
sphere of action as far as American affairs are con- 
cerned. This makes necessary an organization in this 
continent that will look after American interests in the 
League of Nations. 

“The American League would, therefore, have the fol- 
lowing double purpose: first, to occupy itself with ques- 
tions in connection with the extra-continental powers; 
and second, to deal with questions that affect Inter-Ameri- 
can relations.” 


From international, social, and ecclesiastical questions, 
the Congress was brought to the deepest spiritual con- 
sideration by the following letter from Gabriela Mistral, 
the remarkable Chilean poetess, who has recently come to 
be recognized as one of the most influential writers on 
spiritual and social questions in the Latin world: 

“T am with you these days in your Assembly, as well 
as in your evening meetings, as you are thinking of two 
themes equally dear to you and to me: the School, and 
the Religious Character of our People. From the other 
side of the line, among the Catholics, there are a few 
voices which mingle with yours, and one of them is mine. 

“May God Himself preside over your Assembly and 
enrich you with great and clear thoughts. In these ob- 
scure and vacillating times we have great need of the 
Divine Grace. As yet we are often afraid of many ideas 
which, like enthusiastic youth, seem to us too lively. But 





THE NIGHT: OF ‘FHE OPEN HEART © 63 


it is necessary that we admit them to our counsels and 
permit them to present their case. Some of them are: 
the social ideals which as yet find no place in our legisla- 
tion; daring pedagogical ideas which bring with them a 
new scale of values. 

“Referring to your religious discussions, I beg of you, 
with respect but with vehemence, that you try to bring 
about an approximation with Catholicism, in order that 
we may undertake a common task. There are no less 
than ten general ideas in which we are in complete agree- 
ment. We work, Protestants and Catholics, around the 
vertebral column of Christianity; let us seek more ar- 
dently our common points than our differences. In these 
days when some are talking of presenting a common 
formidable front against such debatable questions as the 
yellow peril, let us think of the great Christian opposition 
to materialism. 

“The philosophic doctrine of materialism does not 
cause us much uneasiness; that which troubles us and 
challenges us to unity is materialism as a norm of con- 
duct, materialism loosening sanctions, lowering educa- 
tion to the level of an economic training, sinking its teeth 
into international relationships, counseling the oppression 
of the weak, and even reaching out to our religions, to 
kill the mystic element in order to leave only tradition; 
materialism in the woman who flees from maternity as an 
economic burden and regards childhood as high-priced 
merchandise; materialism in wealth, when it takes refuge 
in its pagan right to deny a living wage; and finally, ma- 
terialism in the State, when it hides behind the idea of 
liberty in order to maintain such institutions as legalized 
prostitution. 

“The Spirit exists although we tread it under foot. 


64 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


Seek ideas with which to defend the culture which is born 
of the Spirit; study arguments with which to defend reli- 
gion as the vital breath of nations; disentangle, so far as 
you may, the net of deception which is weaving itself 
about our youth, in order to relegate religion to the corner 
of worn-out rubbish. Seek relationships between the 
gospel and the present hour, making clear the fact that it 
is yet full of power to purify human life. Defend also, 
my friends, the Spirit which exists in Art, and try to 
create a kind of international legion against the unclean- 
ness which clings to the exhibition of beauty in the 
cinematograph, in the novel, and in the painter’s brush.” 


Here we have the heart of South America opened to 
us by some of the greatest representatives of its present- 
day educational, social, and spiritual life, friends of 
North America, sympathetic with our ideals and our 
Christian program to help South America. Severer critics 
and more fulsome praisers could easily be found, but the 
more fully North Americans come to know representa- 
tive South Americans of all classes and of all countries, 
the more fully persuaded are they that here is the repre- 
sentation of the thought of the great body of our neigh- 
bors in the South, from whom we may expect much 
cooperation. 

The questions that trouble honest friendly South 
Americans in regard to the missionary work of North 
Americans in their lands are: Why do North Americans 
not do something in a large way to put Inter-American 
relations on a spiritual basis and cease putting so much 
emphasis on purely commercial exchange? Can a Chris- 
tian program from North America be carried out in 
South America without its being identified with the in- 





THE NIGHT OF THE OPEN HEART 65 


dustrial and political “peaceful penetration” of a great 
country, which threatens gradually to dominate all the 
life of its smaller neighbor? Will the United States help 
guide South America in the solution of her great educa- 
tional problems by putting into Spanish and Portuguese 
frank discussions of how she is working on these various 
matters ? 

Will North Americans really study South American 
psychology, history, and sociology and take these into ac- 
count in any work they may undertake in South America 
—associating more largely with the South Americans as 
friends and fellow workers? 

The friends who frankly expressed their opinions on 

that ““Night of the Open Heart” would not expect all to 
-agree with them. If some of us actually resent such 
frankness, we might remember the explanation made by 
Sr. Monzo for his frankness, when he said: “Since the 
North American delegates to the Congress have come to 
help us solve our problems, we hope they will not take 
it amiss that we mention some of the problems which they 
themselves are facing.” 


FOR FURTHER READING 


“First International Congress of Social Economy.” Bulletin of 
the Pan-American Union. April, 1925. 

Gulf of Misunderstanding. T. Prnocuet. Boni & Liveright, New 
York. 

Hispanic Anthology. THomMas WatsH. Putnam, New York. 
1920. 

Imperialism and Nationalism. Kirpy Pace. Doran Co., New 
York. 1925. 

“Inter-American Spiritual Understanding.” GaprreLA MISTRAL. 
Bulletin of the Pan-American Union. July, 1924. 

Understanding South America. C. S. Cooper. Doran Co., New 
York, 1918. 

World Tomorrow. Latin American issue. Nov., 1924. New York. 


10. 


QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 


CHAPTER IV 


. What differences and what similarities do you think will be 


found in the promised development of South America as com- 
pared with the development of North America? 
What are the historic conditions which make the present so- 
cial movements in South America so significant? 

What changes, for better or for worse, does the labor move- 
ment promise for Latin America? 


. What seems to be the social and moral significance of the 


present student movement? Does it offer any suggestions for 
service to Evangelicals? 

Do sex problems in Latin America resemble more those of 
Europe or of North America? In what way can outsiders 
help South America in solving these problems? 

What South American countries seem most advanced in so- 
cial movements? Why? 

What other social movements, besides those mentioned in the 
text, would you hope to see developed in South America? 
What problems does a greatly increased immigration—which 
seems likely—suggest for South America? 

What elements in the “formation of a strong people” seem 
to you to be omitted by Dr. Alfaro and what is the significance 
of these omissions? 

How can the Christian forces of North America best cooperate 
with South Americans to develop the social movement along 
the lines of largest service? 








IV 
CHANGING SOUTH AMERICA 


When Colonel Roosevelt returned from his trip to 
South America, he said that just as the most remarkable 
developments of the nineteenth century had taken place 
in North America, so the most wonderful developments 
of the twentieth century would take place in South 
America. To the discerning traveler of recent years it 
would seem that this prophecy is already being fulfilled. 
Where else are such remarkable changes taking place? 

This does not mean, of course, that South America has 
solved all her problems. From forty to eighty per cent 
of her people are still illiterate, and some ten millions of 
native Indians are not yet assimilated into national life. 
She still has great landed estates on which peons by the 
millions are even now in bondage. The questions of a 
stable political life, a strong middle class as a balance 
wheel, a readjustment of the old social order to new 
democratic forms, immigration, public health, and the 
founding of a proper moral and spiritual basis to assure 
permanence in national life—these and many other prob- 
lems are still pressing for solution. 

But the interesting and encouraging thing is that there 
is a renaissance movement which is fairly startling in 
the way that is challenging the old intrenched order. 
Physically, great stretches of territory that have been far 
removed from access are being opened up. Rapid steam- 
ship connections with Europe, North America, and Japan 
are making easier the exchange of life between South 
America and the rest of the world. 

67 


68 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


There seems to be every indication that South America 
is headed for large developments. In the first place, she 
has the physical basis for such growth. Beginning at the 
Rio Grande and stretching on down through Mexico, over 
Central America, beyond Panama, through Colombia and 
Venezuela, the Andean countries, Brazil, Chile, down 
through the abounding plains of Argentina to the Straits 
of Magellan, is the largest expanse of undeveloped, fer- 
tile land in the whole world. 

During the War these countries began to make a most 
determined effort to develop their own resources, to di- 
versify their crops, and to manufacture their own goods. 

In exportation Chile leads the world in nitrates, Ar- 
gentina in wool, Mexico in oil, Brazil in coffee, Cuba in 
sugar, Bolivia in tin, Costa Rica in bananas,—in fact, 
every one of the Latin American countries is especially 
noted for at least one product upon which the world is ab- 
solutely dependent. 

The old idea in the United States was that Latin 
America, being so largely made up of Indians and illit- 
erates, offered little opportunity for commerce. Business 
men are gradually awakening to the great error of such 
an opinion. With all their millions of people, Asia and 
Oceania bought less from the United States last year 
than did Latin America. Our foreign commerce with the 
whole world was thirteen billion dollars in 1920. It would 
have been seventy-five billions had the business trans- 
acted with the rest of the world been in the same pro- 
portion as our trade with Latin America. 

Latin America, with three times more territory than 
the United States, has at present about the same popula- 
tion as the United States numbered in 1900 (80,000,000). 
But her foreign commerce today is twice what ours was 


¢ 





CHANGING SOUTH AMERICA 69 
twenty years ago. A hundred years after the United 
States had won her independence, we had a population of 
fifty millions and foreign commerce of one and one half 
billions. Latin America has just celebrated the centennial 
of her independence and her population is eighty millions, 
with a foreign commerce of five billions. Can anyone 
doubt that with more rapid transportation, more scientific 
machinery, and greater economic efficiency, and with three 
times the territory, Latin America will, in the next forty 
years, make a record at least equal to that of the United 
States from 1880 to 1920? This would mean in 1960 a 
population of one hundred sixty millions and a foreign 
commerce exceeding forty billions. 

It is doubtful if anywhere else in the world the good 
results of the World War were so preponderant over the 
evil as here. These nations, said by Ugarte a few years 
ago to be on “the margin of international life,” have 
gained by the War a definite place at the council table of 
the nations. The world at large has a new appreciation 
of them, both for what they are and for what they may 
become. 


THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION 


A few years ago Latin America was quite removed 
from the rest of the world so far as modern social move- 
ments were concerned. Her geographical position had 
kept her out of the great current of modern life as de- 
veloped in Europe and the United States. But today all 
is different. The World War brought Latin America to 
the attention of the rest of the world as a great store- 
house of raw materials, and, on the other hand, caused 
Latin America to begin to partake of the modern social 


70 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


developments with enthusiasm. Today political revolu- 
tion in Latin America is being succeeded by a great social 
revolution. 

Remarkable transformations are taking place in the 
social structure of the continent. Formerly there were 
only two classes, the rich and the poor, the highly edu- 
cated and the illiterate. While that condition existed 
there was little hope for the solution of South America’s 
many social and political problems. With the gradual de- 
velopment of a middle class, with the introduction of a 
new consciousness of their rights among the laboring 
people, and with a new appreciation of social problems by | 
the educated classes, most of which came about during 
and after the World War, there is a breaking up of the 
old fixed castes, and today the social system of South 
America is in solution. In former times university stu- 
dents were, for the most part, sons of government offi- 
cials and members of the privileged classes, preparing 
themselves to continue the ruling and exploiting of the 
great mass of peon labor. Recently many of this same 
class of students have changed their attitudes and are 
giving themselves to the education of the laborers, work- 
ing out with them a new and democratic conception of 
national life. 

In order to understand clearly the social movements 
now beginning in South America, much study should be 
given to historical conditions in that continent. Pro- 
fessor E. A. Ross, in South of Panama says: 


South America is the victim of a bad start. It was never 
settled by whites in the way that they settled the United States. 
All the European blood from the Caribbean to Cape Horn 
probably does not exceed that to be found within the area en- 
closed by lines connecting Washington, Buffalo, Duluth, and St. 





CHANGING SOUTH AMERICA 7M 


Louis. The masterful whites simply climbed upon the backs of 
the natives and exploited them. Thus, pride, contempt for labor, 
caste, social parasitism, and authoritativeness in Church and 
State fastened upon South American society and characterize it 
still. 

It would be unpardonable for us ever to be puffed up because 


) we enjoy better social and civic health than is usual in South 
America. If our forefathers had found here precious metals and 


several millions of agricultural Indians, our social development 


would have resembled that of the people that grew up in New 
Spain. Not race accounts for the contrast in destiny between 
the two Americas, nor yet the personal virtues of the original 
settler, but circumstances. 


Social revolution is expressed especially in four marked 


-movements which are ushering in the break from that con- 


servatism which even yesterday seemed destined to pre- 


serve for many years its strong hold. These are the labor 


movement, the student movement, the feminist move- 
ment, and the temperance movement. Leading statesmen 
of these southern countries have recently given voice to 
utterances which show the probability that these move- 
ments will grow very rapidly. 


THE LABOR MOVEMENT 


The pitiable condition of labor in the past in Latin 
America is generally well known. The two words used 
to describe the laborer are sufficient to indicate his state: 
“peon,” denoting a financial obligation to an employer 
not possible to shake loose; and “roto,” a broken, ragged 
fellow. Historically, these conditions were established 
when the Spanish hidalgos were given grants of land and 
allowed to force the Indians to labor for them. Country 
labor was always kept in debt, and town labor consisted 


72 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


largely of personal servants of rich families. Such pub- 
lic work as was carried on was generally done by pris- 
oners. The relationship between “amo” and “peon’ was 
more or less patriarchal. No such thing as “labor un- 
rest” was ever heard of. The idea of social revolt and 
of securing better conditions through revolt was absent. 

But sooner or later the industrial age had to invade 
Latin America. The personal relationships between em- 
ployer and employee were severed. Workmen began to- 
come together in large numbers in cities where they saw 
a new life, and they began to hear of the outside world 
and its economic problems. When workmen first heard , 
of the strike as practised by their brothers in Europe 
and North America, and essayed to invoke it, they were 
met with a show of military force and compelled to de- 
sist. A strike was a revolution. But today the strike is 
recognized as legitimate in almost all of these countries. 

The awakening of the working-man has not been 
equally marked in all countries of South America. Labor 
in the tropical part of the continent is still far from grasp- 
ing any idea of organization for the purpose of forcing 
better conditions. One hears about labor organizations 
in certain industrial centers and mining districts near 
Lima, but these are really mutual societies for insurance 
and social purposes. Faint signs of an approaching 
awakening are seen, however, in the little news sheets 
which these organizations are publishing. The following, 
translated freely from one of the pitiable little labor papers 
purchased at a news-stand in Lima, shows their keen de- 
sire for a deliverance of which they have heard some- 
thing but understand nothing. 

“Listen, Brother, to my notes of red with which my 
song is vibrating. I sing to life; death to death! I go 





CHANGING SOUTH AMERICA 73 


planting roses made of love and truth. Anarchism is my 
liberating thought. I am the Word which rises in hu- 
manity’s darkest night and scatters all its pain. Listen, 
Sister, it is time to rise and greet the morning light which 
kisses our darkest suffering!” 

Far different from these incoherent cries, heard in the 
night in Peru, are the strong voices in some of the other 
countries, threateningly demanding new rights and privi- 


_ leges. There has been a welter of strikes on every hand, 


_ accompanied usually by violence and stressing the recog- 
nition of the union to a greater extent than more money 


or shorter hours. The cost of living has been a source 
of discontent everywhere. For the South American 


- countries no reliable index numbers exist, but price levels 


in a number of countries are probably slightly above those 


in the United States. Depreciated currency, fluctuating 


exchange values, and the refusal of the propertied classes 
to pay their fair share of the taxes have even more in- 
creased the pressure upon the lower classes. In Para- 
guay even the storekeepers shut up shop and joined the 
population of workers, many of whom, before the War, 
came and went between Europe and the East Coast coun- 
tries in a regular seasonal flux. The governments, par- 
ticularly in Argentina and Brazil, have arrested literally 
hundreds of suspected foreign leaders, usually Spaniards 
or Russians, deporting or holding them indefinitely in 
jail. Not one of these leaders, however, has become an 
outstanding figure to which a personality or even a name 
can be attached. Their success must have been due in 
large part to a discontent lying everywhere close to the 
surface, which flared up in the wheatfields and the back 
reaches of the quebracho forests as easily as along the 
crowded waterfronts of the cities. 


74 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


Argentina has been the center of the strongest radical 
influence. Not only the workmen but the students and 
professors of the universities seem largely to have gone 
over to the soviet position. The most important labor 
organization of the country is the “Federacion Obrera 
Regional Argentina,” or, as it is known by its initials, the 
“F.O.R.A.” This remarkable organization has now some 
300,000 members. | 

Chile has had almost as many labor difficulties as Ar- 
gentina. The country has been ruled largely by an oh- 
garchy of about a hundred families who have been both 
the owners of the land and the directors of the political , 
and commercial life of the country. The Chilean “roto” 
has been showing a great deal of restlessness for the last 
decade. Many people have expected the laboring classes 
to lead in a revolution which would overthrow the capi- 
talistic régime. The shedding of blood has happily been 
averted by a recent political uprising which is a remark- 
able demonstration of the power of Latin Americans to 
accomplish reforms by civic means. 

The laboring classes joined the Liberal Party in its 
nomination of Arturo Alessandri for presidential candi- 
date. Their platform advocated currency reform, the in- 
come tax, protection of national industries from foreign 
aggression, various solutions for social evils, the educa- 
tion of women and children, prohibition, parliamentary 
reforms, and the separation of Church and State. The 
power to awaken a popular interest in politics and to 
draw the ardent support of his party must be attributed 
first of all to the personality of Alessandri himself. He 
is “fearless and resolute, generous and eloquent.” He is 
encountering great opposition from the oligarchy which 
has been accustomed to exploit the laboring classes and 


CHANGING SOUTH AMERICA 70 


is now going as far as it dares toward checking the presi- 
dent’s proposed reforms. 

There is probably no other country in the world where 
at the present time the daily press is giving so much space 
to labor movements as in Chile. 

Uruguay has had her share of labor troubles, but she 
has escaped some of the violence experienced by her sister 
republic across the river by adopting liberal economic 
legislation. Industrial insurance, old age pensions, pro- 
tection of women and children in industry, provision for 
laborers on strike, and many other social laws advocated 
by the most advanced social workers have been success- 
fully put into operation recently. 

In Brazil labor disturbances have not been as general 
as in Argentina and Chile, but by no means have they 
been absent. The most violent troubles recently occurred 
in the state of Sdo Paulo. To appreciate the difficult sit- 
‘uation it should be noted that, besides the native Brazilian 
population, one third of the population of the state of Sao 
Paulo is composed of Italians, numbering one million, 
and that there are also a large number of Germans and 
‘many small colonies composed of at least a dozen other 
nationalities. 





THE STUDENT MOVEMENT 


The Student Movement is probably the most spectacu- 
lar of all the agencies attempting to revolutionize the life 
of South America. 

In the universities organization and curriculum follow 
French standards rather than North American. Most 
of the lectures are given by professional men or govern- 
ment officials. Consequently there is little personal con- 





76 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


tact between students and professors. No roll is kept of 
the students; there are no campus life, no dormitories, no 
intercollegiate athletics, and very little of what we in the 
North call “college spirit.” 

Usually professors and students are hostile to religion, 
although there are, of course, notable exceptions to this 
general statement. 

Latin American students are very well organized, but — 
their organizations are based on the advancement of the 
interests of students as against the too often politically 
controlled direction of the institutions. The students pur- 
pose also thus to express forcibly their opinion on public © 
questions and to contribute student aid in solving social 
problems. 

The local student federations make use of two special 
ways to enforce their demands. They parade through 
the streets with banners announcing the object of their 
demonstration ; this is called a manifestacion. The strike, 
or huelga, is used as an expression of grievance against 
the interior administration of the school, or against the 
Department of Education. The dismissal of a favorite 
professor or the appointment of one who is considered 
incompetent, an unfavorable ruling or the use of too much 
politics in educational matters, may call forth such a 
strike. 

The combination of students and workmen is one of 
the most interesting social phenomena noticeable in Latin 
America. In 1910 students and workmen came into open 
conflict in the streets of Buenos Aires with serious results. 
To see them now working side by side for the forcing of 
reforms is, therefore, little less than miraculous. It is in 
Argentina that both the students and the workmen have 
carried their demands to revolutionary proportions. Stu- 


CHANGING SOUTH AMERICA 77 


dent riots and strikes have by no means been amusing 
pranks or diversions. They have resulted in serious fight- 
ing and deaths on both sides. In La Plata the police found 
themselves unable to handle the situation, and soldiers 
had to be called out. These instituted a siege of the build- 
ings where the students, armed with modern rifles, de- 
fended themselves for days. During one of the strikes a 
student who dared to go to his examination, was shot 
down in cold blood by his fellow students. In Buenos 
Aires the rector of the Law School, one of the best-known 
publicists of South America, was barricaded recently in 
the Law Building by students, who kept him there until 
he was rescued by the police reserves. 

As a demonstration of sympathy with the students of 
Cordova, the entire university student body of Argentina 
went on a three-days’ strike, parading the streets and call- 
ing long and vociferously for their rights. Following 
that demonstration, the Argentine University Federation 
was organized, and a convention was held in July, 1919, 
to study student problems. As a result of this move- 
ment the students have forced the authorities to revise 
the university system, at least to the extent of giving 
them a vote in the election of the members of the facul- 
ties that are to teach them. 

In Chile again and again students and working-men 
have made common cause. For example, when in 1920, 
there was a mobilization of government troops on the 
Peruvian border, the students and working-men stood to- 
gether in opposition to it. It was the students with the 
working-men in Peru who recently stood out against the 
Government dedicating the republic to the Sacred Heart 
of Jesus. 

- At San Marcos University is found an illustration not 


























78 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


only of what students are doing for reform but of what 
young professors—among them, often, those who have 
been educated in the United States—are contributing to 
the new day in education. Three departments have been 
most remarkably changed during the last few years—the 
library, the museum, and the gymnasium. And the best 
part of their development rests in the fact that in each 
case the renovation has been accomplished under the di- 
rection of a Peruvian. 

The gymnasium is not a development, but an entire 
innovation. In fact, San Marcos is today the proud pos- 
sessor of the only gymnasium in a state university in all 
South America. It is directed by a young Peruvian who 
was educated in the Young Men’s Christian Association 
College at Springfield, Massachusetts. The physical di- 
rector of the Association in Lima works very closely with 
him. The gymnasium is run on the most approved lines 
of college gymnasia in the United States and is adapted 
at the same time to the idiosyncrasies of the Latin uni- 
versity. There are now four hundred students enrolled 
in the department. Everyone must have a thorough 
physical examination and must follow the types of exer- 
cise prescribed for his peculiar case. Not only have some 
very remarkable physical transformations taken place, 
but students have been entirely re-made mentally and 
morally. | 

The reorganization of the library of San Marcos has 
been a most remarkable work, carried on by a young 
Peruvian, of part Chinese blood, who was educated at 
Yale University. The premature death of this brilliant 
student is lamented by all who knew him and all who 
pass through this remarkably transformed department of 
old San Marcos. In former days the list of works in the 























CHANGING SOUTH AMERICA 79 


library was kept in ponderous tomes with little reference 
to classification. If the lists were scarcely classified, much 
‘less so were the books themselves. Today every book 
and magazine is listed and cross-referenced in up-to-date 
card catalogs. A large amount of fresh material has been 
added to the library. The Carnegie Endowment for In- 
ternational Peace has contributed some five thousand vol- 
umes of the best American literature. These are placed 
‘In a separate section. The collection of magazines pub- 
lished in the various countries of America and Europe is 
one of the best to be found on the continent. In passing, 
it is interesting to note that in answer to the question as 
to what magazine was most sought after by the students, 
the librarian replied, La Nueva Democracia, the maga- 
zine published in Spanish by the Committee on Coopera- 
‘tion in Latin America. 

_ Another side of student life in South America is shown 
in the New International Student Camp conducted at 
Piriapolis, Uruguay, by the Young Men’s Christian Asso- 
ciation. The governments of Brazil, Chile, Argentina, 
and Uruguay for several years past have paid the travel- 
ing expenses of a part or of all the delegates going from 
their schools, colleges, or universities. The highest diplo- 
‘matic representatives of these and other nations make 
official visits to the encampment and speak to the stu- 
dents in behalf of what the camp stands for. The Secre- 
tary of State for Uruguay furnished round-trip railroad 
tickets from his capital for all delegates to the camp. The 
‘Minister of War loaned from the Army Department all 
tents and other needed equipment. Both these officials 
came in a Uruguayan cruiser to visit the camp. The lat- 
ter declared the camp to be making a larger contribution 
to international peace among the South American nations 





80 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


than any other agencies now at work there. The Chilean 
Minister in an extensive State paper to his Government 
reported his observations to such good effect that urgent 
invitations have come from students and State to extend 
formal organization to Chilean students. 

The student delegates come to the camp largely unac- 
quainted with one another and with the principles to be 
considered. Before the ten days of Christian companion-— 
ship, united sport, and serious thought are ended, preju- 
dices are disarmed. The last evening is called “The night 
of the open heart,” with opportunity and an atmosphere 
for perfectly free expression. One law student voiced 
the sentiment of many by saying: 

“Men, I have a confession to make. When my fellow 
students asked me to represent them at this camp, I de- 
clined in anger at the thought that they should consider 
me willing to attend a meeting held under religious aus- 
pices. They pressed the invitation a third time before I 
accepted. My father and mother have been fighters of 
religion, and I have thought it my patriotic duty to do 
what I could against religion in my country. But I must 
confess that I never heard of religion as you men inter- 
preted it—something inside a man which makes him 
happy and useful. This has opened up to me a new 
world.” 


THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT 


Women are now coming to take prominent place in all 
the social movements. The first cause of the remark- 
able awakening of women in South America is found in 
the growing interest in the outside world, an interest — 
which all South Americans are rapidly developing. 


CHANGING SOUTH AMERICA 81 


The woman’s movement first took form in a simple 
coming together of the higher class women for charitable 
purposes under the auspices of the State Church. In 
countries like Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile, where the 
‘woman’s movement is the strongest, they have been grad- 
ually developing an independence of the Church and are 
now found to be working out their own problems. These 
‘women are more largely concerned with social better- 
ment, community service, the education of the poor, etc., 
than they are in the securing of suffrage for women, al- 
though the latter is the principal platform in the organi- 
zation of several feminist societies. 

Large numbers of women, heretofore prohibited from 
participating in the solution of great social and educa- 
tional problems because of their seclusive limitation to 
their own families and social circles, have begun to take 
a part in the discussion of the great surging questions 
stirring their nations. Many women have entered indus- 
trial occupations. 









THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT 


The temperance movement is felt in every country of 
Latin America at the present time, and it is especially 
strong in Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Peru, and Brazil. 
It had reached such strong proportions in 1923 that at 
the Pan-American Conference held in Santiago that year, 
the official representatives of the American governments 
took cognizance of it. The Conference recommended 
that the governments forming the International Ameri- 
can Union should bring about a gradual diminishing of 
the consumption of alcoholic drinks until the problem of 
alcoholism has been finally solved. This is to be brought 


82 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


about by the adoption of a policy which shall introduce: — 


(1) A system of progressive taxation on the traffic and 
sale of alcoholic drinks; of hygienic and sanitary meas- 
ures, fines, and penalties tending to the repression of 
fraud in the manufacture and sale of alcoholic drinks. 

(2) Measures looking toward the establishment in the 
public schools and colleges of compulsory teaching of 
hygiene, physiology, and temperance, so illustrated as to 
show graphically the consequences of the use of intoxi- 
cating liquor. 

(3) A study of the influence of nutrition in its relation 
to the consumption of alcohol. 

(4) A restriction of the consumption of alcoholic liq- 
uors by the closing of saloons on holidays and the pro- 





hibition of the sale of such drinks in the vicinity of © 


schools, workshops, and naval and military establish- 
ments. 


(5) The promotion through the cooperation of national 
and municipal authorities of propaganda along the line 
of social hygiene, demonstrating the consequences of in- — 


temperance, and promoting likewise the creation of anti- 
alcohol reformatories. 


SOCIAL WELFARE MOVEMENTS 


There has been a remarkable development in the last 
few years in social welfare movements throughout the 
continent. The increase in the number of hospitals and 
dispensaries and the promotion of institutions for the 
training of nurses have been very marked in most of the 
Latin American countries. 

The movement that most markedly arrests one’s atten- 
tion, however, is the movement toward child welfare that 


CHANGING SOUTH AMERICA 83 


seems to have taken root in every Latin American re- 
public. The Mothers’ Clubs of Buenos Aires are now 
celebrating a Baby Week every year. Brazil organized a 
child welfare exhibit in connection with the first National 
Congress on Child Welfare. National child welfare or- 
‘ganizations have been reported in various centers in 
Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, and Ecuador, 
and at least in the larger cities of Colombia and Paraguay 
there are child welfare associations. Four international 
child welfare congresses have been held, the most recent 
in September, 1924, with the object of discussing child 
welfare from the standpoint of medicine, hygiene, soci- 
| ology, and legislation. Perhaps most attention has been 
given to the physical side of child welfare, as indicated 
by the increased number of milk stations, public dis- 
-pensaries, maternity clinics, and day nurseries. 

However, by no means all the attention has been given 
to this phase of child life. Public playgrounds are being 
established in many of the republics. Perhaps Uruguay 
leads in this activity, which was, in the first instance, 
brought about by the work of the Young Men’s Christian 
Association. Argentina is also well advanced in its play- 


ground program. 


The Boy Scout movement has had an unparalleled de- 
velopment throughout the continent. Complete statistics 
are not available, but according to a report at the recent 
international gathering of Boy Scouts in Copenhagen over 
thirty thousand Scouts were reported in only six of the 
South American republics. 

While the movement among girls has not been so ex- 
tensive, there has been in a number of the South Ameri- 
can republics a corresponding effort to organize girls’ 
clubs, such as the Camp Fire Girls, Girl Reserves, etc. 
















84 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


There are indications of an interest in the study of | 
juvenile delinquency, and some slight progress has been — 
made, particularly in Argentina, toward the separation of © 
juvenile from adult delinquents. But the movement has — 


not yet made appreciable headway. 


In a number of the republics there are special depart- — 


ments in the government itself charged with the promo- 


tion of child welfare; as, for example, in Brazil, which © 


maintains a government council of assistance and pro- 
tection to minors. 


Dr. Max J. Exner, after a recent visit to South Amer- 
ica, says: 


The sex social problems with which social hygiene concerns 
itself are found in aggravated form and extent in all South 
American countries which I visited. Prostitution is prevalent 
and deeply intrenched in all the cities visited. It is taken for 
granted by the public as a social necessity or at least as inevita- 
ble. There is as yet little conviction that it can be eliminated or 
greatly minimized. Venereal diseases are very prevalent. There 
is a high rate of illegitimacy and there is little social stigma 
attached to it.... 

In spite of this general situation, the outlook for progress 
toward more wholesome conditions for the future is more hope- 
ful than I had thought possible. This is true for the reason that 
in all the countries visited I found a few informed and progressive 
leaders who were seeing the necessity of attacking these problems 
on more modern and constructive lines than were being followed 
up to the present, and certain progressive movements, forces, and 
programs were found to be under way.... 

It is significant that the leaders of most of these countries are 
studying closely the programs and methods which have been de- 
veloped in the United States and are copying them. ... 

It is obvious that as a basis of real progress in bringing about 
more wholesome sex social conditions there needs to be an eleva- 















CHANGING SOUTH AMERICA 85 


tion of the status of womanhood in South America. In my 
opinion the progress of the feminist movement in these countries 
is one of the most important factors in the attack upon social 
ygiene problems... . 


“THE FORMATION OF A STRONG PEOPLE” 


The following résumé of an address by Dr. Gregorio 
Araoz Alfaro, one of the outstanding men of Argentina, 
the President of the National Department of Hygiene, is 
an illustration of what South Americans are thinking. 


_ I desire for my country only preeminence in the pacific realm 
of hard work, of happiness, and of culture. I desire that great- 
ness which is found in the perfection of beneficent hearts in a 
larger economic development, in the development of health and 
happiness in general. A country’s power is not denoted by its 
‘armies and its navies. It is, above all, the result of general force 
in culture, in health, and in riches. Not only Argentina but all 
the Latin nations are in their formative period. Some of us 
who are more advanced have developed with a certain appearance 
of giants, but we are often too tall for our splendid bodies, and 
we are exposed to many dangers. As Alberdi once said: “South 
_America places all her hopes of a great future in the fertility of 
her soil and beauty of her climate. This is a great error. Poor 
soil often makes strong men because poverty obliges a man to 
be a son of his own efforts.” Let us not boast, then, of our 
great natural riches. These are not valuable in the hands of any 
but honorable men. Riches are not found in the soil. They are 
found in the men who work the soil. 

One of the first things that Argentina needs is a larger popu- 
lation. There are two things which we must study if immigra- 
tion is to be improved. Immigrants must be selected. Only 
strong and healthy people should be welcomed. The second need 
is a reform in our present land laws in order that the immigrant 
may be able to secure land. It is easy today, as in the past, to 
buy a thousand hectares of land, but it is almost impossible to 
buy four or five hectares, and this is our curse. 


86 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


We need to eliminate disease. The most common is malaria. 
In certain periods of the year seventy, eighty, and ninety per 
cent of the population of some parts of the country have been 
attacked by malaria. This means at least the complete incapacity 
for work of these people for days at a time, which, calculated on 
the lowest basis, means a tremendous economic loss. 

Alcoholism and tuberculosis are other tremendous handicaps 
to the development of a strong nation. These bring about espe- 
cially infantile mortality. There are certain movements against 
those two forms of degeneracy which ought to have our help. 
Typhoid fever may be taken as a representative of a whole group 
of diseases which is undermining the strength of our nation. 

Infantile mortality, while greatly reduced in Buenos Aires, is 
very high in the provinces. In fact, on the average two or three 
times as many children die in some of those provinces as in 
Buenos Aires, because of a lack of sanitary provisions. We need 
very much a special department of the government for the pro- 
tection of childhood. 

We need also a strong educational program. In our primary 
education we have developed a system which gives entirely too 
much attention to the appearance of things, loading down the 
child with exaggerated courses, paying little attention to his phys- 
ical culture. In our desire to pay honor to certain people and to 
impress the foreigners, we have multiplied school palaces. And 
yet there are still about half a million analphabets in the city of 
Buenos Aires. 

In secondary instruction even the most optimistic recognize 
grave dangers. The mania for graduating doctors by the thou- 
sands has led to the creating of many national colleges which do 
not encourage the practical studies destined to create useful men 
of initiative. We need fewer doctors, fewer bachelors, fewer 
authors and orators, but many more industrial and agricultural 
schools, many more rural schools. 


The Commission on Social Movements for the Monte- 
video Congress closed its report with this challenge: 


Great social forces are at work in the South American nations. 
Out of the vast interplay of these forces something new in the 














CHANGING SOUTH AMERICA 87 


world is to emerge. What shall it be? Out of the mixture of the 

surplus populations of the East and the West in a land prodigal 
'in its natural resources and hospitable to all the sons of earth, 
what kind of a culture, a civilization, is to come? Will it be a 
_materialistic world, or will it be Christian? We do not ask so 
much will it be Catholic or Protestant, but will it be Christian? 

The Commission cannot escape the conviction that the ultimate 
answer to these questions will depend very much on the forces 
that are set in operation in these earlier, more formative years of 
South American development. 

Some definite questions that should be faced are these: 

“(1) How can the consciousness of their social mission be more 
fully impressed upon the Christian forces at work in South 
America? 

“(2) How can the Christian groups best cooperate with social 

_movements already operating in the different countries? 
(3) How can competent social workers be found and pre- 
_ pared for their work? Can this training be given in each coun- 
| try or should there be an international Faculty of Theology and 
_ Social Sciences? 
_ “(4) What can the Christian forces do in helping toward a 
solution of the land problem, the peonage problem, the immigra- 
tion problem, the labor problem, the alcoholic problem, the prob- 
lem of the status of women, and the problem of international 
_ relationships?” 


FOR FURTHER READING 


Bulletin of the Pan-American Union. “Saving of Babies in 
Buenos Aires.” July, 1924. “Activities of Chilean Labor Of- 
fice.” Sept., 1924. “The Feminist Movement in Latin America.” 
| (April, 1922. 

_ Men, Maidens and Mantillas. Stetta B. May. Century Co., New 
i wmork,, 1923, 

_ New Latin America, The. J. WarsHaw. Crowell Co., New York. 
— Social Revolution in Mexico, The. E. A. Ross. Century Co., 
| New York. 1923. 

_ South America Today. S. G. INMAN. Committee on Cooperation. 
in Latin America, New York.. 


10. 


QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 


CHAPTER V 


. What are some of the principal reasons why North Americans 


and Latin Americans have so largely misunderstood one an- 

other in the past? 
Was there justification for the suspicions concerning the mo- 
tives of the United States that were aroused among Latin 
Americans following the Mexican and Spanish-American 
wars? - 

Should the Pan-American Union (a) be continued with a 

emphasis on commercial interchange; or (b) should it be en- 
larged to include political questions; or (c) should an Ameri- 
can League of Nations be organized? 

Is it advisable for the United States to send military and 
naval missions to Latin American countries? 

Should the Monroe Doctrine (a) be continued as the policy 
of the United States alone; or (b) should it be made a joint 
declaration of all American countries; or (c) should it be 
abandoned ? 

Is it wise for Latin American countries to contract loans for 
the payment of which they must allow foreigners to collect 
their customs or otherwise limit their sovereignty? 

Should the United States Government assist its nationals, 
either by diplomatic or military pressure, in collecting their 
claims in foreign countries? 

Is it necessary for the United States to assume the duty of 
“international police power,’ as President Roosevelt said, over 
the smaller countries of America? 

Is it right to use military force to secure treaties, as in 
Haiti, which give the United States the opportunity of clean- 
ing up that country in the way we think is needed? 

Are we in the grip of economic forces which compel the 
United States to dominate the rest of America; or can we 
find a way to make economic exchange the servant of spiritual 
forces and a way to brotherhood? 


V 
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 


_ Future historians will wonder at nothing more than 
the fact that we Americans have lived on this hemisphere 
for so many years without understanding one another. 
It is true that there are certain basic reasons for North 
American and Latin American misunderstandings. In 
the first place, we have a different psychology; we are a 
different people as far as historic background is con- 
| cerned, and, to a certain extent, as far as ideals are con- 
cerned. North Americans are predominantly Anglo- 
Saxons; Americans in the South are predominantly 
Latin. But we have this in common, that we are all look- 
ing forward to the day when, through the development 
_of our young nations, we shall become great leading demo- 

cratic powers in the world. This sentiment in the early 
days united North and South America. | 
_ When the Latin Americans won their independence 
from Spain, they looked to the United States as their 
example. Most of them practically copied our Constitu- 
tion. They referred to us as the “great sister nation of 
the North” and as the “great model republic of the 
world.” Simon Bolivar called the first conference of 
American nations to meet at Panama in 1826 for the for- 
mation of a League of Nations. Our own Henry Clay 
_also saw the great necessity of uniting all American coun- 
tries. This spirit of friendship went forward until the 


Mexican War. When, after this war, the United States 
came into possession of nearly half of Mexico’s territory, 
_a feeling of suspicion spread over Latin America concern- 


89 








: 


90 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


ing what they had heretofore believed to be our idealism. 


However, during our Civil War we perceived the very | 


: 


great danger that any republic might be parted asunder — 


and became, therefore, more sympathetic with the Latin 


Americans, who had suffered so acutely from internal — 
difficulties. In 1889 Secretary of State Blaine called to- — 


gether the first Pan-American Conference. 


The next important epoch in relations between the — 
United States and Latin America was the Spanish- — 
American War. That war made the United States a © 
world power. It also gave us predominant influence in — 


the Caribbean. The war, of course, was undertaken for 
the purpose of freeing Cuba from Spain. When that 


was accomplished, we withdrew our forces from Cuba, — 
after having pressed upon them the Platt Amendment. — 
This amendment gave the United States the right to in- | 


tervene when it was considered necessary in the affairs of 


Cuba, and it prohibited that country from increasing its © 
foreign debt or transferring any territory without the per- — 


mission of the United States. 


From this we soon acquired the habit of intervening in — 
the affairs of these small Caribbean countries “for pro- — 
tection of life and property.” The building of the © 
Panama Canal added the strategic reason to the ever-in- — 
creasing commercial reasons for this dominance. Then — 
came the World War, which increased enormously both — 
the strategic and commercial reasons for the United — 


States’ control of this region. The War also changed 
very markedly our relations to many countries of South 
America that had been securing their capital largely from 


Europe, for after hostilities began, they were compelled — 


to borrow from the United States. 


While during the War the idealism of the United States 






POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 91 


raised the stock of this country immensely in Latin 
America and seemed destined to heal many of the sore 
‘spots felt by those countries, the lapse of the United 
| States after the War into a spirit of isolation and exag- 
-gerated nationalism at the same time that it increased so 
largely its financial and political influence in the southern 
countries, has placed again in the very forefront of in- 
ternational questions our relations with Latin America. 

_ This most pressing of our governmental relations may 
be discussed under four heads: (1) Pan-American Con- 
ferences; (2) The Monroe Doctrine; (3) Inter-Ameri- 
can Finances; (4) Hegemony of the United States. 





} 


PAN-AMERICAN CONFERENCES 


The first Pan-American Conference had as its prime 
object the development of the commercial relations be- 
tween the American countries. The one practical result 
of that conference was the organization of what was then 
called “The Bureau of American Republics,” which was 
later expanded into the Pan-American Union. The sole 
object of this bureau at first was the promotion of com- 
mercial relations. But in the agenda for the last Con- 
ference, held at Santiago, Chile, in 1923, Latin America 
insisted that there should be included such important 
questions as an American League of Nations, a definition 
of America’s attitude toward extra-continental powers (a 
joint declaration of the Monroe Doctrine), etc. The 
‘Latin Americans have few trademarks to register, few in- 
ternational claims to collect, few books to copyright, but 
they do have their sovereignty to protect, their relations 
‘to Europe as well as to North America to define, and 
problems between themselves to settle. 





92 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


The outstanding victories of the Conference were in — 
three subjects—International American Law, Hygiene, — 
and Social Questions. In the first two a distinct pro- 
gram was worked out. In the third, the Conference called 
for studies concerning the problems of women and | 
labor and for their representation in future conferences, 
and made certain recommendations with regard to agri- 
culture, education, and anti-alcoholism. Thus, social 
questions have been definitely incorporated in the program 
of Pan-Americanism. 

During the entire Santiago meeting two views of the | 
purposes of the Pan-American movement seemed to be 
struggling against each other: one was desirous of main- 
taining the status quo of the Pan-American Union, re- 
garding it as primarily for the promotion of business re- 
lations, while the other desired to enlarge the movement 
to function in settling Inter-American problems and to 
promote cultural, social, and political cooperation between © 
all American countries. 

The first indication that the Latin Americans would 
not be satisfied with the old arrangements was the pro- 
posal made by Costa Rica, that the members of the gov- 
erning board of the Pan-American Union be appointed 
by the member States, leaving them free to name either — 
their ministers in Washington, as now provided, or other | 
representatives if they desired. The United States dele- 
gation opposed this. A final compromise on the subject 
was reached after some three weeks of struggle. It was 
provided that the governing board shall be composed of 
the diplomatic representatives of the American States in 
Washington and the Secretary of State of the United 
States, but that any country not having a diplomatic rep- 
resentative in Washington may appoint a special repre- 


POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 93 


sentative to the Pan-American Union. The full signifi- 
cance of this proposal is not appreciated unless it is taken 
‘in connection with another, made also by Costa Rica, 
which called for the organization of an American Court 
of Justice. Thus a complete machinery for handling 
American questions would be created, with the Pan- 
American conferences as the legislative body, the Pan- 
American Union as the executive, and the American 
: Court of Justice as the judicial branch. 

Besides the enlargement of the Pan-American Union, 
another way was proposed to bind the American na- 
tions together in a closer union. President Brum of 
‘Uruguay advocated an American League of Nations. 
Just as the United States had opposed the Costa Rican 
proposals, so it now frowned upon this. It was finally 
referred to the Pan-American Union, to be reported on at 
the next conference, which will meet in Havana, probably 
in 1927. 

_ Another important question considered at Santiago was 
the limitation of armaments. The failure to agree on dis- 
‘armament caused bad feeling between Argentina and 
Brazil, and the former began immediately to improve her 
‘army and navy in order to equal Brazil’s program. The 
presence in Brazil of a large naval mission from the 
United States was strongly criticized by Argentina. 
In this connection, the New York Evening Post said 
editorially : 

_ “Argentina’s law for the expenditure of 100,000,000 
gold pesos upon military armaments, promulgated by 
President de Alvear the other day, follows legislation for 
‘strengthening the Argentine navy passed a few months 
ago. No one has any doubt as to the reason for these 
appropriations. A great new barracks system is to be 










94 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


erected along the northern frontier of Argentina, facing 
the thirty thousand Brazilian troops which are posted 
opposite the Argentine province of Corrientes. The pol- 
icy of Argentina has been peaceful, and she vigorously 
advocated disarmament at the Santiago conference. To 
her, $98,000,000 is an enormous sum, for her total esti- 
mated revenues under the 1922 budget were only $225,- 
000,000, and left a deficit. She would not take the step 
unless she were alarmed by the action of Brazil... . . 

“Tt is high time that this naval mission was recalled. 
The United States should not only correct the blunder, 
but make its repetition impossible by asking South 
Americans to agree with us to call in no foreign missions 
of the kind whatever.” 

In Argentina the press and people were much stirred 
by the Naval Mission, believing, as La Prensa said: 

“What Brazil has secured with the official United 
States mission is that South America, especially the River 
Plate countries, which inspire the Brazilian naval policy, 
know that Brazil can count on the decided moral aid of 
the United States, which Brazil calls her ‘old and loyal 
friend.’ This moral authority has been indisputably 
given, and it strengthens Brazilian militarization, both 
within Brazil and abroad.” 


An Argentine lawyer, Dr. Enrique Gil, writing in Our © 


World (October, 1923) under the title, “Is Uncle Sam 


Fomenting a New War?” said: “In the case of the Ar-— 
gentine-Brazilian controversy over disarmament, a certain — 


act of the United States has unwittingly become the key- 
stone of the situation. In December, 1922, the United 


States sent to Brazil, in addition to the commission al- — 


ready detailed there, a mission of sixteen commissioned 


; 


4 
q 
: 


: 


and nineteen non-commissioned officers of the navy. The | 


: 
. 


; 


POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 95 


opportunity was seized immediately by those unfriendly 
to the United States. The major charge was that of in- 
, consistency. You have Mr. Hughes, on the one hand, 
preaching peace and disarmament to the big powers, and 
on the other fostering an unfortunate rivalry between 
Argentina and Brazil. Many critics further argued: 
Does the United States expect that the sending of such a 
‘mission to Brazil will reduce the size of that country’s 
navy? Is it not likely that American manufacturers of 
arms will be favored with orders from a new and willing 
customer ? 

_ “Many who justify Washington say that if Argentina 
wishes, the United States could send her just as good a 
‘mission. But they miss the point, because they do not 
relieve the United States of the charges either of incon- 
sistency or of using a commission to foster the interests 
of the manufacturers of arms. . . . Those who know the 
understanding between the United States and England 
regarding American affairs believe that had Washington 
been in earnest in extending the benefits of disarmament 
to the South Atlantic, it would have been a relatively easy 
matter to present to England the true facts and to secure 
her deferring any action.” 

_ Secretary Hughes defended the sending of the Mission, 
saying: 

“Tn response to the request of Brazil, we sent them our 
naval mission. It was a request which could not well 
hhave been refused, or the refusal of which would not 
have precluded a similar mission from elsewhere. If such 
a mission were to be had, there was no reason why we 
should not furnish it; not that our influence should be 
thrown in the direction of competition in armament or 
in the stirring up of strife, but, decidedly to the contrary, 









96 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


that our influence should be most helpful in avoiding 
waste and provocative outlays and in having necessary 
training conducted in accord with the aims of peace. The 
influence of the United States is always exerted to that 
end and this, despite the efforts of those who would stir 
up anti-American sentiment, is fully realized in Latin 
America. We acted in connection with the request from 
Brazil as we should act in response to a similar request 
from any other country. While I cannot fail to express 
regret that at the recent conference at Santiago some 
provision was not made for the limitation of armament, 
the subject should be viewed in its true light and the mat- 
ter should not be distorted or its importance exaggerated.” 

The United States delegation to the Santiago Confer- 
ence made a favorable report to its government as to the 
accomplishments of the Santiago Conference. Therefore, 
at this time, Dr. Estaneslao Zeballo, former Minister of 
Foreign Affairs in Argentina created a sensation by an 


address made at the Institute of Politics at Williamstown, - 


Mass., in which he declared, among other things, the fol- 
lowing: 

“What occurred in Santiago and the inexact, the in- 
complete, exaggeratedly optimistic report made to the 
Government of the United States demands a rectification 


in the interest of Pan-Americanism which today is facing — 


a profound crisis. ... The Conference has perturbed 


: 


the tranquillity of the situation in general and especially — 


among certain groups like the Rio de la Plata group. 


. . - Do the good people of the United States know these © 


things which so profoundly affect their interests? ... 
The United States has a great mission in favor of Pan- 
American friendship, but the government must reorganize 


its work on another basis, taking into account the discon- 


ROLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 97 


tent which exists in the greater part of the Latin Ameri- 
can countries.” 

The Santiago Conference put up to the United States 

_the biggest program in Pan-Americanism that this coun- 
try has ever faced. But the United States delegation at 
Santiago was opposed to this program. It was Latin 
_ America who pushed an American League of Nations, an 
American Court of Justice, an American Labor Bureau, 
a codification of American International Law, and a con- 
tinentalizing of the Monroe Doctrine. 
These matters were all referred to the Pan-American 
Union and therefore to the American governments. The 
Latin Americans left Santiago with the firm determina- 
tion that the Pan-American Union should not be the 
graveyard of these subjects, but that it would be forced 
to a real consideration of them, and that the North 
_American people themselves should pronounce on the fol- 
lowing questions: Is this negative policy toward all ma- 
-chinery for political cooperation, for the adjustment of 
disputes, and for the solution of the larger Inter-Ameri- 
can problems representative of the sentiment of the ma- 
jority of the people of the United States? Are they 
opposed to an American League of Nations? Are they 
opposed to an American Court of Justice? Are they op- 
posed to the arbitration of pecuniary claims? Are they 
opposed to any cooperative declaration concerning the 
Monroe Doctrine, claiming that it is entirely unilateral? 
Do they really wish to dominate the Pan-American 
Union? These questions Latin America is insistently 
asking. 


_ Opponents of an American League of Nations or to the 
Pan-American Union exist in Latin America as well as 





98 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


in the United States, but for opposite reasons. A move- 
ment for the formation of a Latin American League has 
been given new impetus by such leaders as Dr. José 
Ingenieros of Buenos Aires, who began the publication 
of a paper for its advocacy; by Dr. Alfredo Palacios of 
the University of La Plata, who lectured at universities 
in Mexico and South America on the subject; and by 
Sr. José Vasconcelos, Minister of Education in Mexico. 
This movement is largely sponsored by the intellectuals. 
Regarding it Dr. Alfredo Palacios says: 
“My attitude is frankly one of opposition toward the 
Pan-American movement; because I know that in a uniom 
of that sort the weak and separated peoples of South 
America must become the satellites and servants... . 
The only salvation for these democracies of the South 
lies in the mutual identity of race and their inevitable 
unity in destiny, thus bringing about a confederation of 


all of them to constitute a great power, like the Republic — 
of the North, with which it might deal thus, in analogous © 


conditions.” 

In reviewing these questions in the magazine, Nosotros, 
(Oct. 1922), Dr. José Ingenieros, the most widely read 
author of Argentina, said: ““We do not desire to be, nor 
could we continue being, Pan-Americanist. The famous 
Monroe Doctrine which appeared for a century to be our 


guarantee of political independence against European 
conquest has revealed itself gradually as a right of the 
North Americans to intervene in our affairs. The power-— 


ful neighbor has developed to the highest extent the ré- 
gime of capitalistic protection. .. . 


“Let us make it clear that we are citing facts without - 


condemning their authors. We are not slandering or 


scoffing at the North Americans. The danger of the 











POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 99 


United States does not come from her inferiority, but 
from her superiority. She is to be feared because she is 
great, rich, and strenuous. The thing that interests us is 
the possibility of our balancing her power in order that 
the independence and sovereignty of our nationalities 
shall be saved.” 

The great question facing America is, what is the best 


form of Inter-American political organization in order 
- to bring about the best results for all the continent? Or 
is it better to have none except the present loosely or- 
_ ganized Pan-American Union, devoted largely to com- 
_ mercial exchange? 


NEW PHASES OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE 


The declaration by the United States delegation at the 
Santiago Conference that the Monroe Doctrine was uni- 


lateral, and the celebration on December 2, 1923, of the 


one-hundredth anniversary of the pronouncement of the 
Doctrine, were the signal for a widespread discussion of 
the meaning of the Doctrine, both in the United States 
and in Latin America. An epitome of the two different 


_ points of view is brought out well by the two following 
_ quotations. 


Secretary of State Hughes, speaking on the Monroe 
Doctrine before the American Bar Association, at Minne- 


_apolis, in October, 1923, said: 


We have established a waterway between the Atlantic and 


_ Pacific Oceans—the Panama Canal. Apart from obvious com- 
mercial considerations, the adequate protection of this canal—its 
complete immunity from any adverse control—is essential to our 
| peace and security. We intend in all circumstances to safeguard 


the Panama Canal. We could not afford to take any different 


100 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


position with respect to any other waterway that may be built 
between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans... . 

As the policy embodied in the Monroe Doctrine is distinctly 
the policy of the United States, the Government of the United 
States reserves to itself its definition, interpretation, and applica- 
tion. This implies neither suspicion nor estrangement. It simply 
means that the United States is asserting a separate national right 
to self-defense, and that in the exercise of this right it must have 
an unhampered discretion. 

So far as the region of the Caribbean Sea is concerned, it 
may be said that if we had no Monroe Doctrine, we should have 
to create one, and this is not to imply any limitation on the scope 
of the Doctrine as originally proclaimed and as still maintained, 
but simply to indicate that new occasions require new applica- 
tions of an old principle which remains completely effective. 


Among many answers to these words of Mr. Hughes, 
an article by the Venezuelan publicist, Jesus Semprum, 
published by a number of the leading Latin American 
magazines, stated: 


The Monroe Doctrine is as abstruse as elastic. The proof of 
it is that today Secretary Hughes, instead of giving a precise 
and definite interpretation, desired by all Central and South Amer- 
ica, has given an elasticity and a mysterious character more 
amplified and threatening than ever. General opinion is that the 
unexpected declarations of Mr. Hughes are due to the recrudes- 
cence of lack of confidence and prejudices of the other American 
republics in recent times, above all since the Santiago Conference. 

So the declaration of Secretary Hughes evidently indicates that 
the White House has felt so much irritation because of the failure 
of the Santiago Conference that it has renounced its moderation 
and the apparent sweetness of diplomacy and has resolved to 
assume once for all the truculent attitude of the big man of the 
neighborhood who, club in hand, cries out for the benefit of his 
neighbors his insolent intentions. 

If, in tropical America, there were a powerful nation, conscious 








POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS - 101 


of its duties, of its situation, and of its dangers, Mr. Hughes’ 
discourse would inevitably plant a casus belli. For that which 
Mr. Hughes declares so openly, in precise and significant lan- 
- guage, without leaving the least doubt, is that the United States 
_ will intervene as sovereign in the rest of America and especially 
in the Caribbean region whenever it so desires; that whenever 
they like, they will occupy by force American territories which 
they desire; they will enforce on other peoples the necessary 
_ obedience to carry out their own designs, to foment their own 
interests, and to impose their unquestionable economic and po- 
litical sovereignty in the New World. 

_ It is not possible to interpret in any other way the declaration 
that the only judge of the rights of the United States in America 
_ in relation to the large number of neighboring nations is the United 
_ States itself, 


LOANS TO LATIN AMERICA 


Before the World War the United States was a debtor 
nation to the extent of about three and a half billion dol- 
lars. But now the figures are entirely reversed. The 
United States Government reports that at the end of 
1923 American investments abroad exclusive of war loans 
were eight billion dollars. Another billion dollars was 
loaned to foreign governments in 1924, and financiers 
estimate that this will be an average for the next ten 
years at least. Even in little Cuba our investments are 
now amounting to the enormous sum of $1,360,000,000, 
a little more than the United States’ investments in Mex- 
ico. This means that we are becoming the bankers of the 
world. Today we go out frankly and necessarily from 
the economic standpoint to battle with the rest of the 
world for world markets. We need the raw products 
that less developed countries have in order to carry on 
our immense industrial civilization. 


102 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


In June, 1924, the Department of Commerce announced 
that “there are 610,000,000 American dollars invested in 
Latin American public securities and $3,150,000,000 more 
in Latin American industries. Besides this great amount, 
we did a trade with Latin America last year (1923) 
amounting to $1,844,000,000.” Among these recent loans 
which have involved criticism are those to Haiti, $15,- 
000,000; to Bolivia, $24,000,000; to Cuba, $50,000,000 ; 
to El Salvador, $6,000,000; to Peru, $7,000,000. The 
Haitian loan, arranged through the Department of State, 
was protested by the Haitian-Dominican Independence 
Society as illegal because it was based on “military in- 
vasion of United States military forces, . . . imposition | 
of Treaty through ‘military pressure’ (words of Admiral 
Caperton), etc.” As to the Cuban loan, the bankers an- 
nounced it was “issued with the acquiescence of the 
United States Government” and press dispatches re- 
ported, that “while the executive department of the Cuban 
Government in trying to straighten out its finances was 
considering a foreign loan, most of the Havana papers 
charged that American financiers were attempting to force 
on Cuba another $15,000,000 obligation in order to bring 
the country completely under their control, open the way 
to fiscal intervention, and place the island in the same 
category as Haiti, Santo Domingo, Nicaragua, and 
Panama. Party leaders of both houses of the Cuban Con- 
gress were greatly opposed to the loan, denouncing it as 
‘another link in the golden chain binding Cuba to the 
chariot of the United States.” (New York Times, 
July 15, 1922.) 

The Bolivian loan not only pledged customs to pay the 
loan, but put the collection of all the taxes and revenues 


POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 103 


of the country under the supervision of a Fiscal Com- 


mission of three persons, two of whom are North Ameri- 
cans, representatives of the bankers. 


The Salvadorian loan provided for the collection of 
the customs by an American agent of the. New York 
bankers, and the referring of any differences between the 


_ lender and the borrower to the Secretary of State of the 


United States, who, in turn, agreed to refer the question 


for final arbitration to a justice of the Supreme Court of 
the United States. The bankers in advertising the loan 
stated: 

“Tt is simply not thinkable that, after a Federal Judge 


has decided any question or dispute between the bond 
holders and the Salvador Government, the United States 
- Government should not take the necessary steps to sustain 
such decision. There is a precedent in a dispute between 


Costa Rica and Panama, in which a warship was sent to 


carry the verdict of the arbitrators.” (The Nation, Vol. 
117, No. 3042.) 


United States citizens, either government officials or 
representatives of bankers, are now collecting revenues in 


Santo Domingo, Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Peru, 


and Bolivia. North American financial advisers are per- 
manently employed or financial missions have recently 


visited Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Colombia, 
Ecuador, and Chile. While no one could question the 


splendid, scientific service rendered by many North 


American specialists who are giving disinterested help 
along these lines, neither can one ignore the increasing 


expressions of fear by experienced people both in this 
country and abroad as to the dangers to international 
peace involved in this tremendous control over other 
nations. 


104 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


At the Institute of Politics at Williamstown, Mass., 
August 18, 1924, there was a discussion concerning for- 
eign loans, reported by the New York Times the next day 
as follows: 


Mr. Strauss discussed the various requirements insisted upon 
by bankers making foreign loans. He said that in some cases the 
political instability of the borrowing Government made it abso- 
lutely necessary to make the collection of revenue by a foreign 
collector generally appointed by or with the approval of the 
lenders. He admitted that small nations disliked this require- 
ment more than any others. Critics in this country, Mr. Strauss 
declared, should recognize that underlying all participation, direct 
and indirect, of the United States Government in such agree- 
ments was the necessity imposed on the United States by the 
maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine. 

“If European nations are to respect our policy, which keeps 
them from applying physical force to recalcitrant debtors in the 
Americas,” he said, “they will naturally expect us to see that 
the engagements of such debtors are met, and our Government 
must, therefore, in appropriate cases, be prepared to assume re- 
sponsibilities to that end or be content to let foreign Governments 
apply such pressure as they see fit in their own way. ‘This neces- 
sity involved theoretical contradictions between our party plat- 
forms and the stern facts of an actual situation. On the whole, 
our Government has sustained this dual part with some tact and 
some firmness, and always for the benefit of the country in 
question.” 

In dealing with American bankers’ loans to Latin America, Dr. 
Rowe urged that such loans be subject to Government control 
and conform to standards designed to prevent irritation and mis- 
understandings between private parties; for if the conditions of 
the loan were onerous, it was inevitable that the Latin American 
masses would view the exactions as those of the people of the 
United States. He advocated that every such loan be submitted 
to this Government for careful scrutiny of its terms. 

In taking issue with Dr. Rowe, Mr. Crosby said that as bankers 
went into this business, they would learn to guard against the 





POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 105 


dangers cited, and that neither investors nor reputable bankers 
would want to have anything to do with the kind of loans Dr. 
Rowe feared. 

_ “Among the arguments against governmental control of foreign 
loans,” Mr. Crosby went on, “was the danger of an indirect 
icontrol by the United States Government over Latin American 
countries borrowing from American bankers.” Mr. Crosby joined 
Dr. Rowe in taking issue with Mr. Strauss’ statement that this 
'Government should help collect debts from Latin America for 
the European investor. 


The Christian Century (June 25, 1925) says: 


_ The world owes us some twenty billion dollars. If we should 
endeavor to increase our holdings in foreign enterprises for 
another decade, it is quite within the range of possibility that 
America would become the most feared and envied and therefore 
the most hated nation of the world. ... All this may outrage the 
good American citizen who cannot understand why nations should 
hate us just because we are good enough to lend them money. But 
this naive attitude of the average citizen is precisely what makes 
the whole situation so ominous. ...It simply shows that we 
are in the precarious position of exerting more power than we 
know we possess and exerting it through the logic of economic 
law and not by the free decision of public opinion. 


WHAT LATIN AMERICANS THINK 


Latin American papers are filled with dark forebodings 
because of these ever-increasing loans. As Jesus Semprum 
says in a widely copied article: 


Today the principal arm of imperialism in capitalistic America 
is the loan, its accompanying technical mission, collector of cus- 
toms, and the consequent direct intervention of foreigners in the 
domestic business of the debtor. These weak states know this 
and yet they continue to solicit loans from the bankers. It is 
said that these loans are indispensable for the exploitation of the 


106 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


natural riches of the country. Yet many of these countries are 
poorer than they have been before the loans were made. 


The United States Senate has recently taken cognizance 
of the growing relationships between the United States 
Government and loans made by our bankers to Latin 
America and, following addresses by Senator Borah and 
others, Senator Ladd introduced a bill (December -2, 
1924) providing that United States Government officials 
be prohibited from (1) “engaging the responsibility of the 
Government of the United States to supervise fulfillment 
of financial arrangements between citizens of the United 
States and foreign governments or (2) giving official rec- 
ognition to any arrangement which may commit the Gov- 
ernment of the United States to military intervention in 
order to compel the observance of alleged obligations, or 
to deal with any such arrangement, except to secure settle- 
ment of claims through ordinary channels of law.” ‘This 
bill is still pending. 


HEGEMONY OF UNITED STATES 


The fact that the United States is richer and stronger 
than all the other countries of America combined neces- 
sarily gives her a predominant influence on this continent. 
Secretary of State Olney stated the extreme conception 
of this when he said, “The United States is practically 
sovereign on this continent.” President Roosevelt prob- 
ably stated a more widely accepted view when he said 
that the Monroe Doctrine forces, in cases of “chronic 
wrong doing or impotence in America, the exercise of an 
international police power.” In support of this idea the 
United States has, since the Spanish-American War, sent 








POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 107 


military forces for brief or protracted occupation to Cuba, 
Santo Domingo, Haiti, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, 
Guatemala, and Mexico. 

Of the various Latin American countries occupied by 
fmilitary forces of the United States, more data is availa- 
ble about Haiti than about the others because of an in- 
vestigation made by the United States Senate. During a 
revolution in Haiti in 1915, that country was occupied by 
the military forces of the United States. The United 
States Senate Investigating Committee in acknowledging 
that the United States authorities had forced an unwilling 
treaty on Haiti, said: 

“The American representatives in the opinion of your 
committee influenced the majority of the Assembly in the 
choice of a president. Later they exercised pressure to 
induce the ratification by Haiti of a treaty with the United 
‘States, precisely as the United States had exercised pres- 
sure to induce the incorporation of the Platt Amendment 
in the Constitution of Cuba.” 

The following official dispatches indicate some of the 
means employed to secure the signature of the treaty, 
along with special privileges to the United States and a 
new constitution giving Americans the right to hold prop- 
erty, a right which Haitians withheld and were still op- 
posed to granting. 

The Senate Investigating Committee report shows that 
Admiral Caperton, in charge of the United States forces 
landed in Haiti, cabled Washington as follows: 

“Successful negotiation of treaty is predominant part 
of present mission. After encountering many difficulties, 
treaty situation at present looks more favorable than 
usual. This has been effected by the exercising of mili- 
tary pressure at propitious moment in negotiations.” 


108 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


The Haitians continued to resist strongly acquiescence 
to the treaty, however, so Secretary Daniels cabled the 
following to Admiral Caperton: 

“Call on President Dartiguenave before the session of 
Senate which will pass upon ratification of treaty and re- 
quest that you be permitted to appear before that meet- 
ing to make a statement to the President and to mem- ' 
bers of the Cabinet. On your own authority state the 
following before these officers: ‘I have the honor to in- 
form the President of Haiti and the members of his 
Cabinet that I am personally gratified that public senti-— 
ment continues favorable to the treaty; that there is a 
strong demand from all classes for immediate ratification 
and that the treaty will be ratified Thursday. Jl am sure 
that you gentlemen will understand my sentiment in this 
matter, and I am confident if the treaty fails of ratifica- 
tion that my Government has intention to retain control 
in Haiti until the desired end is accomplished, and that it 
will forthwith proceed to the complete pacification of 
Haiti so as to insure internal tranquillity necessary to such 
development of the country and its industry.’ ” 

In a message from General Eli K. Cole to the Secre- 
tary of the Navy, June 17, 1916, showing the difficulty of 
substituting the constitution proposed by the United 
States, which would give Americans the right to hold 
property, for one which Haitians proposed, denying this 
right, he said: 

“Antagonism National Assembly to foreign ownership 
of land such that no endeavor short of dissolution will 
prevent passage Constitution along lines reported my 
13107.” 

On June 18, General Cole notified Washington: ‘Un- 
less contrary instructions received, if necessary to prevent 


POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 109 


passage proposed Constitution, I intend dissolve National 
Assembly, through President, if possible, otherwise di- 
rect.’* 

In reply the Navy Department vested General Cole 
“with full discretionary power.” The next day General 
Butler, acting under instructions from General Cole, dis- 
solved the Assembly. The Haitian newspapers were or- 
dered strictly by General Cole to omit all comment on 
this action. 

A debate in the United States Senate, as reported in 
the Congressional Record of January 21, 1925 (pp. 2269- 
72) gives an insight into both sides of the question about 
whether this increasing intervention in the affairs of Latin 
America ought to continue or not. The following are 
abstracts : 


Mr. Oppre. The intervention of the United States into the in- 
ternal affairs of the Republic of Haiti in July, 1915, was unavoid- 
able. The President of Haiti had been brutally murdered, his 
government overthrown, and the steadying presence of a foreign 
military force was imperatively necessary. Obviously there was 
only one foreign State that should, in view of the international 
understandings in force over that region, land troops—the United 
States. The intervention of the United States was fully justified 
and was undertaken as a matter of duty. Mr. President, this 
morning (January 21, 1925) the Washington Post carried an 
editorial which gives a very clear and concise history of the 
occupation of Haiti, as follows: 


The “Invasion” of Haiti 


“When American marines took over the island in 1915, condi- 
tions were fast relapsing into savagery in the interior country, 
while on the coast the breakdown of the native government left 
the population open to a reign of terror. The United States 
authorities first restored order and made it safe for an unarmed 


110 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


person to appear in public. By vigorous rule they instilled some- 
thing of respect for person and property into the better-clas 
Haitian. 
“They then invited the native officials from the old régime 
to sit in with them while they organized a government. They 
passed laws and explained to the Haitians what these meant. 


They built or helped to build schools. They established hospitals | 


and taught native ‘doctors’ the principles of medicine and surgery. 
They built roads into the wilderness of the interior and routed 


out the bloodthirsty bandits who haunted the forests. They 


sterilized pest districts and disinfected polluted waters. 

“They took over the native constabulary, drilled it, armed it, 
and organized it into an effective military body with a patriotic 
morale. They preached through it the necessity that Haitians 


should love their country, obey their government, and protect 


helpless foreigners. Finally, they reorganized the finance and 
commerce of the island. 


“Should the United States have done all this or not? There 


can be no doubt about it. Under the obligations of the Monroe 
Doctrine, supplemented by the Root corollary wherein this Gov- 


ernment formally recognized the duty to remove conditions in — 
Latin America which might give cause for European intervention, — 


this country faced an unescapable task.” 

The Haitian people are better off a thousand times because of 
our occupation than they had been for over a hundred years. 
They had revolution after revolution and changes in their form 
of government innumerable until our occupation in 1915. Since 
then there has been peace and security; the people have been able 
to cultivate their little tracts of land and raise livestock in se- 
curity; and they have confidence in us. ... 


Mr. King. ... With all due respect to the Senator, I venture | 


to assert that the record will not support all of the positions 
which he has taken, and I cannot assent to the conclusions which 
he has reached... . 

The Senator states that we have been actuated by “humani- 
tarian motives” in our occupation of the island. Mr. President, 
that is always the plea of the strong nation when it oppresses 
the weak. Haiti does not belong to the United States. It is 
inhabited by people who are different from the great majority of 


POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 111 


this Republic. They want their independence.... The Haitian 
people have at times had bad and vicious rulers, and injustices 


have been perpetrated for which no defense can be made. The 


| 





same may be said of other nations... . 
We had no right to invade Haitian territory, and we certainly 


had no right to impose-a hard and cruel treaty upon the Haitian 


people under which we have claimed the right to occupy the 
Haitian state and control the government which we established. 
The Senator said there was an international understanding. What 
governments had the right to join with the United States in an 


“agreement” to place Haiti under the dominion of the United 
States? 


The Monroe Doctrine, Mr. President, may not be perverted 
and used as a pretext to justify aggression by our Government 


or the infringement of the sovereign rights of states upon the 
Western Hemisphere. 


The misinterpretation of the Monroe Doctrine has been the 
occasion of anxieties and fears upon the part of some of our 
Latin neighbors. It is important that it be justly and properly 


interpreted, otherwise it will be a recurring cause of offense and 


a haunting specter threatening the amicable relations which 





should exist between this Republic and the Republics to the south 
of us. 

The Senator says that the Haitian people are a thousand times 
better off now than before the United States sent its military 
forces to the island. I do not know the standard adopted by the 


Senator to measure their progress from the low and degraded 
position which he attributes to them at the time of American 


occupation and the high state of felicity which he would have us 
believe they now enjoy under the military control of the United 
States. Does he mean that their feelings toward the United 


States are more friendly now than before? Does he mean they 


are better off financially or physically? Mr. President, I think 


the Senator did not speak in terms of moderation. 


There are many Haitians of culture devoted to their country 
who are competent to hold high official position and discharge 


with fidelity the duties which such positions would entail. I 


frankly admit that neither they nor others within the Haitian 
state could give the Haitian people as progressive and as liberal 


112 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


a form of government as that which we enjoy, or which may 
be found in many other countries in the world. But whatever 
government they maintain would be their own. 

Every act of conquest has been accompanied by pious protesta- 


tions upon the part of the conquering nation, that it sought the ~ 


physical and moral well-being of the subjugated people. In my 
opinion, our duty is clear. We should announce to the people 
of Haiti that on the first of July we shall withdraw from the 
island. 
Mr. Oppiz. Mr. President, if the Senator from Utah will exam- 
ine the records of the Navy Department proceedings during 1915, 
at the time the occupation started, he will find, I think, an answer 
to his question in regard to the international understanding. The 
French and German forces were there at the start. It is a well- 
known fact that if the United States had not acted, one of the 
foreign nations would have taken charge of Haitian finances, 
their customs and revenues, in a very short time. 

Mr. Kine. Mr. President, I shall not ask for a division, because 
I know the temper of the Senate. I shall not say the Senate is 
imperialistic. That would be unparliamentary. It might be 
untrue. I shall say, however, with due respect to my colleagues, 
that I think they fail to appreciate the great opportunity which 


we have in this particular instance to emphasize the high pur- — 


poses of this Government. I think we are losing an opportunity 
to bring to the United States the friendship and the love of the 
Latin American republics. 

Mr. Bruce. I should like to ask the Senator whether he can 


recall just how many of the rulers of Haiti have died peacefully © 


in their own beds? 
Mr. Kinc. Many of the Haitian Presidents were assassinated. 
I believe that if we should withdraw from the island there would 
be sporadic outbreaks, factional strife, and possible revolution. 
Revolutions, even though they have been accompanied by blood- 
shed and often by atrocities and assassinations, have been struck 
at autocratic government and have laid the foundations of more 
liberal government, though such foundations have been laid in 
blood. Even in our own Republic, dedicated to liberty, there was 
a mighty conflict, appalling in its magnitude, which destroyed 
hundreds of thousands of the flower of American manhood and 






















POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 113 


mposed financial burdens upon the people which persist even 
intil this day. ... 

Mr. Bruce. I should like to ask the Senator how many roads 
there were in Haiti when the American occupation took place. 
My information is that there was nothing there but bridle 
yaths.... 

Mr. Kine. I concede that the roads were limited, ... that many 
of the Haitian rulers were cruel and imposed upon the people 
anjust laws which deprived many of them of their liberty. But 
conceding all that and more, I still insist that the United States 
las no right to control the Haitian people by military force... . 
Mr. Bruce. I assume that the point of view of the Senator is 
that it is much better for Haitians to be free than civilized. 

Mr. Kine. I want the Haitians both free and civilized and free- 
dom and civilization will the sooner be realized if they are not 
geld under the control of another power. ...If they are not 
sivilized, how long will it take us to civilize them? Shall we 
remain until they reach the standards of civilization which fas- 
idious Americans prescribe? . 

I am pleading only for the right of self-government, for the 
“ight of the people, whether white or black, to have their own 
freedom in their own way, to work out their own problems, 
iwnafraid and undeterred by the power and might of a great 
aation. This Nation has not been made the policeman for the 


The National Catholic Welfare Council recently made 
in investigation of conditions in Haiti and recommends 
is follows: 


The United States Government should close the door it has 
ypened in Haiti to the establishment there of a network of Amer- 
can owned plantations through which Haitian small farm owners 
will be turned into peons and day laborers. It should do all 
ossible to retain and extend ownership by Haitian farmers of 
the land they till, American influence in other West Indian 
slands has meant the growth of the plantation system and the 
radual expropriation of the people’s land, says the report. The 


114 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


masses of the people are changed into landless, low-paid laborers © 
and peons, working on plantations that are owned principally by 
Americans. It is declared that this same process has been 
begun in Haiti since the occupation through permission laws which © 
the American Government dictated and through the establishment 

of plantations in sugar, pineapples, and cotton by Americans. Be-— 
cause the plantation system has only begun in Haiti, there is time 
yet for another policy to be pursued successfully. The United 
States can change the policy it initiated. It still holds its power ‘ 
over the Haitian Government. | 


SOME HOPEFUL MOVEMENTS ‘ 


Several important recent actions by the United States 
Government have shown a desire to better Pan-American 
relations. Foremost among these was the withdrawal of 
the Marines from Santo Domingo and the announcement 
of their withdrawal from Nicaragua, where improved 
financial conditions had enabled the Government to buy 
back the railroad and the national bank. 

Negotiations for the withdrawal of the Marines from 
Santo Domingo were begun by President Wilson, but 
agreement on terms was not then reached. However, in 
the summer of 1923, a provisional government, agreeable 
to the heads of the three leading political parties, was set. 
up, and in March, 1924, a permanent president and con- 
gress were elected. This was part of the plan agreed 
upon by the two countries, which also called for the rati- 
fication of most of the acts of the United States Military 
Government which had ruled the country since 1916, and 
the continuance of the collection of the customs by United 
States officials. 

The gradual adoption, after much discussion, of the 
various peace pacts proposed by the Second Central 





POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 115 


American Peace Conference, held in Washington in the 
fall of 1922, also produced numerous favorable results. 

The Tacna and Arica dispute, the Alsace-Lorraine 
question of South America, which had been presented to 
the League of Nations to arbitrate, was referred to Presi- 
dent Harding when the Monroe Doctrine prevented ac- 
tion by the League. Both Chile and Peru presented their 
arguments in good spirit before the President, and this 
resulted—at least before the decision has been rendered— 
in a better feeling among all concerned. The decision 
rendered calls for a plebiscite of the inhabitants of these 
provinces, and General Pershing left the United States 
on July 20, 1925, to preside at such a voting. 

The recognition of Mexico by the United States, Au- 
gust 30, 1923, held up for three years because of Ameri- 
can property questions, caused a distinct relief all through 
Latin America. 

The prompt adoption by the United States Senate of 
the conventions signed at the Santiago Conference was 
no doubt significant of our desire to gain the good-will of 
Latin America. Four of these conventions were com- 
mercial, applying to bettering relations as to customs, 
trade marks, etc. The fifth was the treaty proposed by 
Sr. Gondra of Paraguay, providing for a commission of 
inquiry to be set up when any two nations of America 
might find themselves in disagreement, with the promise 
that they would delay at least a year before beginning 
hostilities. 

A number of important Pan-American conferences 
were held during 1924: in May the Pan-American Con- 
ference on Electrical Communication, in Mexico City; in 
October, the Pan-American Child Welfare Conference, in 
Santiago; in November, the Pan-American Sanitary Con- 


116 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


ference, in Havana; in December, the Pan-American 
Scientific Congress, in Lima. Besides representative 
North American delegations attending these gatherings, a 
number of commercial delegations have visited Latin 
America—the most important being one to Mexico in 
October. Also United States government officials, for 
example, Secretary of Labor Davis and General Persh- 
ing, have gone on special missions of courtesy and investi- 
gation. 

Secretary of State Hughes took occasion to set down 
several times during the period under review his assur- 
ance that Pan-American relations have been greatly im- 
proved, regretting the “hopeless twist of mind of those 
who accuse us of cherishing an imperialistic policy.” 
Speaking at the Republican State Convention of New 
York on April 16, 1924, he reviewed recent events and 
added: 

“In short, during the last three years, we have been 
able to convince the Governments and the peoples of the 
American Continent, not only by our declarations, but by 
outstanding example, that ours is a Government respect- 
ful of their rights, as well as regardful of our own, and 
that we are always willing to join with them in the 
furtherance of those larger purposes of international right 
and fair dealing upon which, in the last analysis, the 
peace and progress of the entire continent must depend.” 

Is Mr. Hughes right or is the other view, expressed 
by so many others, right? A widely known North 
American who has lived and traveled in Latin America 
for twenty-five years recently wrote the author: 

“My last year in South America was embittered by just 
such suspicions among the people and expressed in the 
newspapers. We ‘Yankees’ are not liked in Latin 


| 
| 
| 
| 


POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 117 


America, but worse than that, we are feared and sus- 
pected. . . . The United States is, blindly and not of de- 
liberate policy—Fate, let’s call it, advancing by material- 
‘istic imperialism. I see no way to a successful opposi- 
tion. The path is that of Rome, and Spain, final crash— 
when, let us hope, there will come what I may call a real 
spiritual democracy. But you and I cannot hope to live to 
see it!” 

Are we, then, in the grip of a cold economic law? Do 
we not believe that spiritual forces are superior to ma- 
terial forces? We believe that the heart of our nation 
beats right; that it is not cant when we profess idealism 
and real willingness to share, with no ulterior motives, 
the best of our life with less fortunate peoples, assisting 
them to attain strength and justice and to protect their 
proper sovereignty. 

Would one of the practical ways to solve these rela- 
tions with our Southern neighbors be to organize, as they 
suggest, an American League of Nations and an Ameri- 
can Court of Justice? Could we go the second mile, by 
trusting ourselves in an organization with the weaker 
countries of Latin America? Could loans to small Ameri- 
can nations be made by concert of powers, just as loans 
to Austria, Germany, and other countries have recently 
been floated ? 

Should we hold to the more strict one-sided interpreta- 
tion of the Monroe Doctrine, or should it be shared by all 
America? Can we not find a way that will benefit both 
parties, where in exchange for capital and manufactured 
goods, there is given only just and proportionate amount 
of raw materials in return? Is it not possible to reduce 
somewhat at least the profit motive, putting in its place 
the friendship motive? Can we go on taking mortgages 





118 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


on these countries, without piling up trouble for ourselves 
as well as trouble for them? Is it not up to the Christian 
business men and Christian statesmen to work out Chris- 
tian relations with the people who are bound to them 
economically? If it is true that we are now so rich that 
we have a mortgage on the world, is it also true that the 
world has a mortgage on our soul? 

It is most encouraging to see that the leading men in 
the United States Government are advocating a new ap- 
proach to our Latin American neighbors. President 
Coolidge said in a recent message to Congress: 

“While we are desirous of promoting peace in every 
quarter of the globe, we have a special interest in the 
peace of this hemisphere. It is our constant desire that 
all causes of dispute in this area may be tranquilly and 
satisfactorily adjusted. Along with our desire for peace 
is the earnest hope for the increased prosperity of our 
sister republics of Latin America, and our constant pur- 
pose to promote cooperation with them which may be 
mutually beneficial and always inspired by the most cor- 
dial friendships.” 

Adding to the words of our President the following 
declaration of Sr. Cesar Zumeta of Venezuela, the im- 
portance of Inter-American relations is clear: 

“We are either on the eve of another Dark Age or we 
are facing a great new epoch in human history. A united 
America can bring this new epoch into the world. The 
government at Washington has the power to say whether 
we will have this American unity, with its consequent 
blessings, or whether we will have the divisive and ruin- 
ous elements of Europe enter this continent, with the con- 
sequent ruin of civilization.” 


POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 119 


FOR FURTHER READING 


Caribbean Interests of the United States, The. C. L. Jones. 
D. Appleton & Co., New York. 1916. 

Congressional Record. W.E. Boraw. Vol. 62, Chaps. XV-XXI. 

Destiny of a Continent, The. Manure. Ucarte. Knopf, New 
York. 1925. 

Diplomatic Relations of the United States and Spanish America. 
J. H. Latan&é. Doubleday Page & Co., Garden City, N. Y. 
1920. 

Foreign Loans. United States Senate Hearings on S. Con. Reso- 
lution 22, Washington. Government Printing Office. 1925. 
This embodies the most complete statement in print of the recent 
financial relations between the United States and Latin America. 
“Imperialistic America.” S. G. Inman. Alflantic Monthly. July, 

1924. 

“Inquiry into Occupation of Haiti and Santo Domingo.” U. S. 
Senate, Hearings of Select Committee, 67th Congress, Ist Ses- 
sion, Part 2. 

“Ts America Imperialistic.” SUMNER WeEtts. Atlantic Monthly. 
Sept., 1924. 

Mexico; an Interpretation. CARLTON BEALS. Chaps. 4, 5, 6, 7, 17, 
18, 19. Huebsch, New York. 1923. 

Mexico and the Caribbean. Clark University Addresses. Steckert 
& Co., New York. 1920. 

Mexico on the Verge. E. J. Ditton. Doran Co., New York. 

Missions and World Problems. C. H. Fans. Chap. IV. Asso- 
ciation Press, New York. 1925. 

Monroe Doctrine, The. AtryANDRO ALVAREZ. Oxford University 
Press, New York. 1924. 

One Hundred Years of the Monroe Doctrine. H. C. Tuomas. 
Macmillan Co., New York. 1923. 

“Pan American Conferences and Their Results.” S. G. INMAN. 
Southwestern Political and Social Science Quarterly. March, 
1924. 

Senate Report on Haiti. 

Syllabus on International Relations. Parker T. Moon. The Mac- 
millan Co., New York. 1925. For full bibliography see Chap- 
ter XIV on Imperialism in Latin America. 

“Through Santo Domingo and Haiti.” S.G. Inman. Committee 
on Cooperation in Latin America, New York. 1919, 


QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 


CHAPTER VI 


. Do you personally regard the Latin American as your equal? 
If not, in what respects do you consider him inferior or su- 
perior? Why? | 
. What are the sources from which the average citizen of North 
America receives his ideas of Latin America and vice versa? 
. What position do you consider Latin America will hold in fu- 
ture world life? Why? 

In what ways can the social and educational idealists of the 
United States share their experiences with Latin America? 
How is it that North Americans have done so much more in 
developing philanthropic institutions in other parts of the world 
than they have in Latin America? 

How can North American business men who get profits out of 
Latin America be more largely interested in helping these coun- 
tries in solving their educational and moral problems? 

. What results can be expected by North America if her ma- 
terial influence in South America continues to multiply so 
rapidly and only feeble efforts are made to increase her spiritual 
influence ? 

How can we multiply our spiritual ambassadors to South 
America? 

. What are some practical things that you and your group can 
do toward building a real spiritual fellowship between the 
American peoples? 


SE —————eeeoeoree,rl 


VI 


BASES FOR INTER-AMERICAN 
FRIENDSHIP 


The experiences of fifty North Americans during the 
spring of 1925 and many other ventures in friendship 
with South Americans seem to justify the setting down of 
a few principles which North Americans in their pursuit 
of closer understanding might well adopt. No doubt the 
South Americans with whom these friendships have been 
cultivated could speak equally frankly concerning things 
which it would be well if they were to practise if South 
Americans are to eliminate their prejudices and do their 
part in the formation of this friendship. We also hope 
that some South Americans will write as frankly and 
critically of the attitudes they themselves ought to hold 
as we are trying to do here in regard to such North 
American attitudes as will build this friendship. South 
Americans who honestly face the misunderstandings of 
the past recognize that blame is to be found on their side 
as well as on ours, and that only as both peoples make the 
effort, can they find the desired harmony. | 

From the standpoint of North Americans the follow- 
ing would seem to be at least some of the bases for this 
friendship. 


First, equality. There is nothing that quite aggravates 
the Latin American so much as the patronizing attitude 
which is often assumed toward him. President Wilson 
showed his clear understanding of this when he said: 
“We must prove ourselves their friends and champions 

121 


122 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


upon terms of equality and honor. You cannot be 
friends upon any other terms.” There is probably no 
more difficult thing in the world for the Anglo-Saxon 
than to keep from showing his feeling of superiority to 
other peoples. This is likely to be especially true of 
North Americans dealing with Latin Americans. 

A North American lady who was living in Santo 
Domingo, when showing some presents she had received, 
said that they had been presented to her by some of the 
“foreign ladies.” It developed that she meant Dominican 
ladies. She regarded them as “foreigners” in their own 
land. Cabbages and Kings, by O. Henry, and a thousand 
other writings of this burlesque character have done more, 
probably, than all our real study of the history of Latin 
America, of its great writers, and of its life of culture, to 
shape our ideas concerning these countries. Even some 
missionary propaganda in its strong emphasis on the il- 
literacy, illegitimacy, immorality, and lack of character of 
the South American may have given a disproportionate 
emphasis to the worst side of Latin American life, and 
failed to reveal the best. 

The Commission on Literature, reporting to the Monte- 
video Congress, said: 

“The United States sends to Latin America bankers 
and commercial agents but few educators and critics who 
can appreciate its marvelous literary development. That 
ignorance was strikingly set forth recently by Prof. Wil- 
liam R. Shepherd, of Columbia University, when, in his 
words of welcome to Dr. Manuel Gamio, of Mexico, one 
of the greatest anthropologists of the present generation, 
he said something like this: ‘I am sorry that you are a 
Latin American and a Mexican—and do not misinterpret 
my words. What I mean is, that if you were a French- 


BASES FOR FRIENDSHIP 123 
man, a German, an Italian, or an Englishman, your place 
as an anthropologist would be recognized and your works 
would be read by the majority of cultured North Ameri- 
cans. But of you North America will say what the 
Pharisees said of Christ: “Can anything good come from 
Nazareth ?”’” 

A South American Ambassador in Washington said 
not long ago, in complaining of the critical spirit of 
Americans visiting his country: “You will not find every- 
thing there just as you have it in the United States, and 
you must not expect more than we have for ourselves. 
We are very glad to share what we have with anyone 
who comes to us in good faith, but you should not be too 
critical of what we have to offer. Our countries are new 
countries, and we welcome your interest in their develop- 
ment, but we don’t like to be told that we are backward 
and slow. If you don’t like our hospitality, you should 
stay at home.” 

That is a rather general complaint against North 
Americans who visit South America for the first time. 
The traveler usually knows very little Spanish, and he is 
likely to be annoyed because all the nations do not speak 
his language. If he is very provincial in his point of view, 
he is likely to conclude that everything is done wrongly 
because it is done differently from the way he is used to 
at home. Many North American tourists, and even some 
of them residents of many years in South America, see 
none of the good traits of the people, none of the wonder- 
ful public and private charities conducted by them, noth- 
ing of the beautiful spirit of refinement and culture that 
captivates the open-minded. At times one finds in the 
cities North Americans who spend their free time malign- 
ing the good people of that city and putting wrong im- 


124 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


pressions into the heads of tourists who come to them 
for information. Even if the traveler is fortunate enough 
to have pointed out to him some of these things which 
are hid from the ordinary tourist, he is likely to forget 
their charm or value when he finds himself unable to get 
a room with a bath. How much of our North American 
life revolves around a porcelain bath tub, and how far 
this shapes our thinking on international relations when 
we travel abroad, is often a revelation. And if the “pri- 
vate-bath complex” does not get us, the “fork-complex” 
rises up to feed our race superiority. How many North 
American tourists would vote any country a “success” in 
which every room had a private bath and every citizen 
gave preference to the fork? How many would be more 
impressed with these things than with a Mistral, a Braga, 
or a Gandhi? 

It was interesting to hear each member of the re- 
turning North American delegation, at a meeting in the 
salon of the Santa Luisa before arrival at Panama, men- 
tion especially the deep impression he had received in re- 
gard to the South Americans as the peers of people in any 
other part of the world. 

As Bishop Francis J. McConnell put it: 

“Nobody who has traveled to this conference from the 
North will return to his home without feeling a vast debt 
of gratitude for the quickening of insight and zeal which 
has come from contact with the South Americans. I hope 
to see the day when Christian relationships between the 
countries to the North and those to the South shall be 
upon a basis of mutual influence, with only such reliance 
upon official authority anywhere as will keep open the 
channels for that mutual influence. 

“One of the reports here adopted recommends that 


BASES FOR FRIENDSHIP 125 


special lecturers, of proved ability, be set apart to bring 
from Europe and the United States the latest phrasings 
of Christian thought in those countries. Why should such 
enterprises be one-sided? We of Europe and the United 
States on our part need profoundly the light which South 
American Christians can throw upon the Gospel Truth. 
The fineness of the Spanish and Portuguese languages 
as instruments contributes to a peculiar fineness of mind 
on the part of those who use those instruments. The 
Latin quality of mind in the service of the gospel is a gift 
to be used under a sense of trusteeship for Christians 
everywhere. A language reveals not merely a peculiarity 
of expressing truth but of seizing truth as well. We need 
every ray of light which can break forth from the word 
of God, and some rays, or some colors, can first break 
better upon the Latin type of understanding than upon 
any other.” 


Second, granting the right of self-expression. South 
Americans will not express themselves in theological or- 
ganization, in their political life, in their social reform, or 
in their moral emphasis exactly as North Americans have 
expressed themselves. This does not mean that they will 
not make their special contributions to all these realms of 
life. 

The late Ambassador from Brazil to the United States, 
Sr. Nebuco, speaking of what North and South America 
might learn from one another, said: 

“T do not mean that we would ever attain your speed. 
Nor do we wish it. You have broken the record of hu- 
man activity without breaking the rhythm of life. You 
have made a new rhythm for yourselves. We could never 
do that. For the Latin races, festina lente is the rule of 


126 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


health and stability. And let me say that it is good for 
mankind that all its races do not go at the same step, 
that they do not all run. Dignity of life, culture, happi- 
ness, freedom, may be enjoyed by nations moving slowly, 
provided they move steadily forward.” 

Gabriela Mistral says: 

“Some believe that the only means of accord between 
nations is through a unification of customs, of forms of 
economic life, of the criteria of truth. Others believe that 
each group of human beings can progress, can even reach 
the apex of perfection, each in its own way... . I had, 
until a short time ago, a certain disdain for the languid 
Orient and that which in our Latin countries is most like 
the Orient—the Indian. But seeing a Mexican mixteco 
at work on his lacquer, my mind was illuminated by the 
truth. The man... worked with a calm delight which 
was pure love. The work that a machine might have ac- 
complished in a brief moment cost the Mexican an hour’s 
labor; but his work did not suggest something ill-con- 
ceived. Laboring almost with tenderness, his was the 
calm of the workman who loves his work. The same 
desire which the poet has in choosing the right adjective 
was to be found in the slow, skilled hand of the Indian 
worker in lacquer. Then I understood that though this 
man had no highly developed faculties . . . the Indian 
workman and I were equals—not because of the charity 
of the Christian mandate, nor because of the potentially 
false equality of citizenship, but in the very essence of 
things. ... 

“The friendship of the different peoples sought by the 
Pan-American Union would be easily attained if we were 
all imbued, to the farthest limit of consciousness, with 
the concept of dissimilarity without inferiority. .. . 


BASES FOR FRIENDSHIP 127 


“To stamp the relations between the countries of the 
North and South with the standards of Christianity, to 
place conscience, individual and national, above material 
and personal interests: that is the task. The more or 
less purely immediate political relations of today must be 
replaced by a spiritual movement in which the coopera- 
tion of a great State will not be looked upon as the domi- 
nation of the weak by the strong, but as the immensely 
human helpfulness of a great and prosperous nation 
which has found itself and which has already reached 
maturity toward other states which are slowly and pain- 
fully striving toward the same goals.” 

As for the attitude of the North American missionary 
agencies, the Commission on the Church and the Com- 
munity of the Montevideo Congress says: 

“The second influence in shaping the sentiment of a 
community is the power of the missionary to free himself 
from all prepossessions favorable to his own type of na- 
tional life or culture.’ There has been, in the past few 
years, a very general recognition of the truth that Chris- 
tianity in the United States, for example, is not to be 
identified too closely with the social institutions of the 
United States. With the Latin American peoples coming 
to a new national and racial sensitiveness, the wise worker 
from abroad will substitute the idea of a fatherly contact 
with the people by that of a brotherly contact with them.” 


Third, a new advocacy of liberty of thought. So much 
has been said about conservatism, fanaticism, and dicta- 
torships in Latin America that many people think of 
these as conservative lands. They are so in many senses. 
But the leaders of thought both in government and in the 
educational world are today advanced liberals. It is 


128 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


strange to find them looking upon the United States as 
reactionary in its intellectual attitudes. 

The dismissal of professors from the universities of 
North America because of their liberal thought has not 
been understood by South American university men. 
There is a general feeling in these liberal circles that - 
North America has become reactionary during the last 
few years. These circles were very much surprised when 
told about the work of such papers as The New Republic 
and organizations like the Foreign Policy Association, the 
Social Service Commission and The Commission on In- 
ternational Justice and Good-Will of the Federal Coun- 
cil of Churches, the new movement for the Christian Way 
of Life, the inquiries concerning relations between capital 
and labor, and the steel strike investigation by the Inter- 
church World Movement. If South American liberal 
thought is to become friendly to North America, it must 
be made more aware of these movements and of the atti- 
tude assumed by the broad-minded Christian and social 
leaders of the United States. There must be a larger 
willingness on our part to discuss frankly with them the 
great problems which are facing the world. 

We remember that while the great Reformation of the 
sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries was going 
on in Europe, South America remained isolated. A simi- 
lar thing is happening today with some North Americans 
in that continent. Great reformations have taken place 
in their home country, but they have been out of touch 
with them and so, for one of their fellow countrymen to 
bring in these new social ideas means sharp criticism. 

How far is Sr. Navarro Monzo right, when he says: 
“The Latin countries in America, along with the Latin 
countries in Europe, need to pass through a reform, but 





BASES FOR FRIENDSHIP 129 


this reformation must be their own, a reformation of the 
twentieth century, not of the sixteenth. 

“The modern world, especially the Latin world, be- 
lieves little in churches. This is the truth and we might 
as well face it. Any ecclesiastical organization which 
involves a clergy, a professionalism of life and preaching, 
-arouses suspicion. Therefore, any attempt to introduce 
into Latin America an exotic church can only count ona 
partial success. 

“But I firmly believe that the religious, ethical, and so- 
cial principles of Jesus will stand. The future belongs to 
them. But Christianity is destined to stand as an ideal, 
not as a doctrine or as an organization. Christianity 
ought to be founded in the command of the Master, “Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ From the beginning 
Christians have felt the necessity of meeting together for 
mutual exhortation, for collective prayer, and to partici- 
pate from a single cup and to eat the same bread, sym- 
bols of love. This necessity will always be felt by the 
disciples of Christ; the church of tomorrow will . .. be 
composed probably of small homogeneous groups of peo- 
ple who, because of like tendencies, will enjoy meeting 
together in common prayer, in mutual council, in speak- 
ing to one another concerning the things of the soul; and, 
when they face the most profound things, to keep silent. 

“When shall we see here such groups which would 
help save our culture and solve our problems? I confess 
that I do not know. The only thing that I do know is 
that its appearance does not depend on an intellectual 
movement, but on a great spiritual revival. This, men 
may in a certain way prepare for, but they cannot pro- 
duce. For those who have not passed through a religious 
experience to speak of the presence of God in the soul, of 


130 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


intimate communion with Him, is the same as for the — 
blind to speak of the varied colors and for the deaf to © 
speak of music. How shall we make them understand — 


these things? Such understanding does not depend on 
an intellectual effort but on moral purity. This I know 


well, and because I know it, I have no illusions about — 


the efficacy of all kinds of activities, and of preaching 
which only affects the intelligence. The man who shall 
save Latin America, must be not a wise man, but a saint.” 


Fourth, the sacrifice of institutional life for its own 


sake. One of the central ideas in most mission work in © 
South America has been to build up the organization, — 


since it was believed that membership in this organiza- 
tion was the way to cultivate in individuals the Christian 


life. The Christian way of life as such without any par- — 
ticular reference to organization has not been primal. 


Most missionaries would favor social work, but with 
many this would be only for the sake of getting people 
into the church—a point of contact in order that the real 
message might be delivered. Few, probably, think of so- 


cial service itself as Christian work. South Americans > 


recognize this and are often suspicious of it as fish get 
Suspicious of the bait. They have had long years of 
watching jesuitical methods and have become exceedingly 
wary of service rendered which means the contracting of 
certain obligations. 

A study of the life of Christ would be of great help in 


EE ——- 


ee 


deciding this fundamental question. Is a hospital a good | 


thing only because it helps, by curing the body, to get 
people to listen to your preaching message? Isa school a 


good thing only because it wears away prejudice and gives — 


a more direct avenue for the minister? Is social service 





BASES FOR FRIENDSHIP 131 


good only because it predisposes people to come to your 
church? How many quotations already made from 
South Americans can you recall that show the desira- 
bility of pure, unselfish service without any quid pro quo, 
if we are to win any large confidence among the people? 

The persistency of denominationalism in spite of the 

earnest and honest desires of denominational leaders for 
cooperation is one of the strange anomalies of the mis- 
sionary situation in South America today. 
Much is spoken in interdenominational meetings of the 
_ power of unity and the desire for closer cooperation. It is 
surprising, however, when denominations come into di- 
rect contact with a question which necessitates some sac- 
rifice of their denominational program, how difficult it is 
for them to make such sacrifices. In Montevideo, if there 
was one thing more evident than any other, it was the need 
of a better prepared ministry among the Spanish-speak- 
ing people. Yet when the practical question of opening 
the International Faculty of Theology and Social Sci- 
ences was put up directly to the denominational boards, 
they failed to endorse it because their denominational 
programs did not seem to lend themselves to it. 

The sacrifice of the institutional life for the purpose 
of serving the people, the placing of the real needs of a 
Christian program before denominational pride, is abso- 
lutely necessary if North American Christians are to win 
the friendship of South American liberals. 

Should we not study ways of mingling with and serv- 
ing South Americans without expecting them to adopt 
our organizations? A certain number of Christian work- 
ers might be set aside to live among groups of people, 
students, laborers, etc., who would not be expected to 
report each year concerning the progress made in tying 


132 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


these people in a definite way to an organization. The 
idea recently advanced by the Quakers of sending young 
men to live among people of foreign lands to get their 
point of view and to make friends with them, with no 
other results expected, would be a splendid one for Chris- 
tian forces to carry out in South America. If college 
professors from North America would spend sabbatical 
years in South America, if retired business men of the 
international mind, artists, literary men, social workers, 
and others would spend considerable periods of time with 
our Southern neighbors, carrying forward a deliberate 
program of cultivation of friendship and service, it would 
have large effect. Are such things possible or are they 
too idealistic for a practical people like us to carry out? 


Fifth, an improvement of the whole North American 
impact on South American life. One of the experienced 
women members of the recent South American tour, who 
spent a good deal of time with her fellow Americans liv- 
ing South, spoke often of how far separated the three 
groups of North Americans seemed to be, the business 
group, the diplomatic corps, and the missionaries. And 
yet all these are equally representative of North America 
before the South Americans. When they bear a very 
widely differing testimony as to what our life means, 
what are the people among whom they live to think? 

Should we work to get all our fellow citizens to unite 
in a common Christian impact to gain friendship, or 
should we admit this as too difficult and frankly state our 
disapproval of certain diplomatic and commercial policies 
of some of our countrymen and emphasize the spiritual 
phases of life which struggle against our materialistic 
side? 








BASES FOR FRIENDSHIP 133 


The North Americans attending the Montevideo Con- 
gress were impressed with the importance of this prob- 
lem. Said Dr. Robert E. Speer: “How are we to sustain 
our proper friendly relationships with all groups who go 
out to make impacts on these countries and at the same 
time retain our purely spiritual character? In China to- 
day our missions are all snarled up with antipathy against 
the Western world. The same, if not greater, problem 
exists in South America, and it is nearer and more closely 
_ related to us. In the last ten years we have trebled our 
holdings in Latin American securities, according to Mr. 
Julius Klein of the Department of Commerce. There 
are forces at work with which we seem to have no influ- 
ence. We must study the question very carefully. How 
_ far can we or ought we to go in this matter of dealing 
with our political and commercial relationships? Ought 
_ we to go into this matter at all, or should we hold our- 
_ selves to the strictly evangelistic view of our work? We 
have different minds among us in this matter. Most of 
_ the missionaries would probably advise a more conserva- 
tive attitude. But there would be others whose con- 
sciences would not be satisfied in any such way. We 
must certainly be careful in this field of relationships 
without any shirking of real responsibilities.” 

The Commission on Special Religious Problems says: 


The Evangelical movement has been criticized as a tool of 
imperialistic politicians. This leads us to make one or two 
remarks. 

(1) The term Pan-American should be abolished from all con- 
nection with Evangelical propaganda in South America. It is a 
term distasteful, even in its political acceptation, to many of the 
best minds on the continent. 

(2) It is difficult for the popular mind in South America to 


134 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


appreciate the fact that men belonging to a powerful sister nation 
can work in other countries without being inspired by selfish or 
national interests. Service rendered for the pure love of God, of 
truth, and of human beings is difficult to grasp. For that very 
reason the Evangelical missionary should avoid all entangling 
associations with commercial or political interests in order that 
he may stand forth in the full light of day as God’s representative 
and no other’s. 


The Commission on The Church and the Community 
said: 


It would be folly not to recognize the obstacle to foreign mis- 
sionary work in Latin America created by the real or supposed 
policies of the United States toward her neighbors to the south. 
The facts themselves are rather embarrassing, with or without 
explanation. The seizure of Panama by President Roosevelt, the 
taking over of Santo Domingo’s custom-houses to ensure the pay- 
ment of debts to foreign creditors, the actual occupation of Santo 
Domingo by United States troops, the practical conquest of Haiti 
by United States marines, the seizure of Vera Cruz by the United 
States Navy in 1914, the punitive expedition into Mexico under 
General Pershing in 1916—these are facts open before all the 
world. 

We who know the United States are thoroughly clear in our 
own minds that the people of our country have no hostile de- 
signs against any Latin American nation. Yet all through the 
speech of the citizen of the United States is likely to run an 
assumption of superiority based on physical force. 


An article in a recent issue of The Federal Council 
Bulletin said: 


It is a fair question for the churches of the United States to 
ask themselves how far they may expect results from the work 
of the missionaries they send to Latin America so long as the 
overwhelming conviction among Latin Americans is that the 
United States Government is inclined to be materialistic in its 


BASES FOR FRIENDSHIP 135 


relations with its Southern neighbors. At least it is good strategy 
in the advancement of the Kingdom of God to raise the question 
whether greater progress can be made in Latin America by send- 
ing more missionaries to preach a message of Good-will in those 
lands, or whether more advance would be made by helping those 
that are already there by clearing up some of the difficulties that 
our own official and commercial attitudes have placed as stumbling 
blocks to the work of these missionaries. 


Fortunately there are found among the North Ameri- 
can and other foreign colonies in South America some of 
the very finest Christian men and women, who are exert- 
ing great influence for Christian ideals and are doing 
much by their lives as well as by their contributions to 
help the missionary. But others of the fellow citizens of 
the missionary discredit the cause of Christ both by work 
and by action. In most of the capitals of South America 
church services are held in English for the benefit of the 
foreign residents. In some of these cities well organized, 
union churches make every effort to serve the English- 
speaking community. Their support, however, is too 
often dependent on a few most zealous and generous ones, 
rather than on the majority of the colony. If these Eng- 
lish-speaking union churches could be enlarged and made 
strong influential centers through which the foreign col- 
onies would function in building Christian relations with 
the nationals, immense good would be done. 

The foreign firms which take enormous profits out of 
these countries sometimes show most commendable spirit 
in providing social welfare activities for their own em- 
ployees. But they rarely ever contribute anything to the 
great social and educational enterprises of the land, which 
would mean so much to the building of international 
fellowship. 


136 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


Sixth, a larger emphasis on the spiritual side of Inter- 
American relations. The visit of fifty North American 
Christian leaders to South America in connection with 
the Montevideo Congress was one of the most important 
gestures that North America has made toward the 
spiritual life of the southern continent. The eagerness 
of South America to know about the inner life of North 
America was shown wherever these visitors went. “You 
make great efforts to build up commercial relations with 
us. Give us of your rich accretions in the realm of educa- 
tion, social philosophy, ethics, and soul culture,” said 
South Americans over and over again. 

A recent visitor to Argentina reports: 

“There is no one here to talk of this spiritual and in- 
tellectual side of Inter-American relations. We could 
render a large service not only for Argentina, but for the 
betterment of our own relations with South America by 
fostering a real program of intellectual and spiritual ex- 
change between the two countries. Italy, Spain, and 
France are sending mission after mission to South 
America these days. These are not commercial missions, 
but are composed of the most representative authors, uni- 
versity professors, and scientists, who are received with 
tremendous enthusiasm as they lecture on the literature, 
art, and educational life of their countries. We should 
have from three to six of our best university men in 
Buenos Aires continuously, acting in various capacities, 
as exchange professors, as technical advisers, and public 
lecturers.” 

On a recent visit to Lima, Peru, the author was met by 
a delegation of students who made an appeal that the 
United States send to Peru representatives of the best 
elements of her life that would teach Peru the secret of 





BASES FOR FRIENDSHIP 137 


the educational, social, and moral progress of the United 
States. 

“Our country is perishing for the lack of moral stam- 
ina, sacrificial service, and practical idealism,” they said. 
“Send us men to lead us into this new life. If you only 
come to develop our material resources, to work our mines, 
and to cultivate our rich soil, Peru itself will remain poor 
in the real values of life. We have been trusting for a 
hundred years in literature and professionalism to save 
us. We are now disillusioned as to this. But we believe 
that to go to the other extreme of materialism will bring 
results just as disappointing. We call on your universi- 
ties, your great foundations in social sciences, your lead- 
ers in moral and spiritual movements, to reach out a hand 
to the young men of Peru.” 

North American philanthropists have built great col- 
leges and contributed large sums to cultural and spiritual 
enterprises, not only in China, India, Japan, and the Near 
East, but even in the most advanced countries of Europe. 
Not counting the institutions supported by mission boards, 
how many institutions are supported by North Americans 
out of pure free will, taking, for example, Yale in China, 
Peking Medical, Robert College, the American University 
Union of Europe, the American-Scandinavian Founda- 
tion, and special efforts like the restoration of the Lou- 
vain Library, all undertaken purely on the spiritual basis 
of friendship? How many similar institutions are sup- 
ported by North Americans in Latin America? The only 
North American school of college rank in all the twenty 
republics of Latin America is MacKenzie College of Sao 
Paulo, and this is now almost self-supporting. Prac- 
tically the only large North American philanthropic 
agency working to any extent in Latin America, with the 


138 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


exception of occasional scientific expeditions sent to re- 
mote sections, is the Rockefeller Institute, which works 


especially for the extinction of hookworm. More than a - 


decade ago a group of educators in the United States 
was formed to develop in Mexico City a North American 
college somewhat similar to Robert College of Constanti- 
nople. But despite all the agitation, that institution is no 
nearer being built today than it was ten years ago. In 
the meantime, North American industry has taken out 
hundreds of millions of dollars from Mexico’s soil. 

Bishop Wilbur P. Thirkield, writing in the Christian 
Century, March 27, 1924, says: 

“Tt is interesting to contemplate the contribution to 
Pan-American confidence, security, and peace that would 
have been made if the United States had said to Brazil, 
in response to her request for an American naval com- 
mission: ‘Under the terms of the Monroe Doctrine you 
are assured of protection from all foreign aggression, and 
with our program for Pan-American peace, cooperation, 
and good-will, no neighboring republic will invade or 
molest you. What you need is not ships, but schools, and 
we'll help you build them. What you need is not mil- 
lions in armament, but millions in railways to develop 
your wasted imperial resources.’ ... It would appear 
that instead of such a consistent and pacific program the 
United States has encouraged a big military budget in a 
nation already with strained credit and undeveloped re- 
sources and has provided for the education of her youth 
in the arts of modern warfare and in the methods of ag- 
gressive military strategy.” 

The great question raised by Mr. James McDonald, of 
the Foreign Policy Association, will be answered by the 
United States in its relations to Latin America. He says: 





=f at 


BASES FOR FRIENDSHIP 139 


China and Mexico show themselves but two aspects of a single 
challenge—can modern industrial civilization cooperate harmoni- 
ously with weaker and less industrialized peoples for the common 
good of all? Or, must contacts between machine civilizations 
and those more primitive peoples be marred by exploitation, some- 
times harsh and tending toward domination, to be answered first 
by sullen suspicion, then by impassioned resentment, and finally 
by violent revolt? The events of the last few weeks thrust these 
issues upon us with dramatic imperativeness. Europe and the 
United States not less than China and Mexico are now on trial 
before the world. 


The Guatemala newspaper El Diario published the fol- 
lowing editorial recently : 


More important than political treaties, than the solemn promises 
of friendship and love, than congresses and conferences, the great 
cultural endeavors of North America could contribute to the 
drawing together of the Americas. The truth of what we say 
is proven by the great work done in all parts of the continent by 
the Rockefeller Institute and Evangelical missions. 

No one ignores the positive benefit which the Rockefeller Insti- 
tute has brought about. Its work has not been unilateral. In 
combating the hookworm and penetrating to the most remote 
parts of the tropics, it has propagated the truth concerning popu- 
lar hygiene everywhere, 

Although less in evidence, but not for this reason less impor- 
tant, especially for our mental and moral progress, has been the 
work of Evangelical missions. By means of ministers splendidly 
educated and really moral, American Protestantism, giving itself 
to the humanitarian endeavor of liberating our masses from their 
ignorance, has carried forward the splendid good news of a 
pure and human-hearted religion to a large part of our people. 

Thanks to heroic patience Protestant missions have attained 
notable triumphs. Today seed sown is beginning to bear fruit. 
In many humble people a real religious sentiment, reflective and 
tolerant, is beginning to be substituted for the absurdities of 
fanaticism and the intolerance of the past. The Sunday preach- 


140 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


ings of the Evangelical pastors have been, at the same time, 
happy means of propagating ideas against crime and vice. Latin 
America knows how to appreciate all that has come from these 
humanitarian institutions. 


How the whole of the North American impact on 
South America can be made more certainly Christian is 
one of our great problems in the development of Inter- 
American friendship. 

North American help in increasing the power of the 
Christian movement in South America is, of course, the 
first way which presents itself to a thoughtful disciple of 
Jesus. The Montevideo Congress made a large appeal 
to North American Christians for such help. Brotherly 
service to South America in helping her to secure the in- 
stitutions and the workers which the Montevideo Con- 
gress alone called for would advance the cause enor- 
mously. But we need to employ many different means 
of spiritualizing this impact. 

We need a number of spiritual ambassadors going up 
and down this America of ours, cultivating understand- 
ing and friendship by interpreting to all the people the 
great truth that God has made of one blood all the na- 
tions and has called each and every one to make its own 
particular contribution to the work of the world. 

We have had such ambassadors in the past. Dr. Hor- 
ace Lane went from the United States to Brazil to estab- 
lish himself in business. But he fell so deeply in love 
with the Brazilians that he gave himself to helping them 
educate their youth. As the founder and president of 
Mackenzie College, he probably did more to endear 
North Americans to Brazilians than any governmental 
agent ever sent to that country. His funeral was the 
largest ever held in the city of Sao Paulo. As one travels 


Se Eee eee eee 


BASES FOR FRIENDSHIP 141 


through Brazil today, he finds the name of Mackenzie 
College to be the key that everywhere unlocks the doors. 
The graduates of the school are found occupying the 
highest positions in official and commercial life. 

What Dr. Lane was to Sao Paulo, H. C. Tucker, an- 
other North American, is to Rio de Janeiro. Going to 
Brazil forty years ago as the agent of the American Bible 
Society, he has so identified himself with the community 
that it may be said that he occupies a unique position of 
influence both with Brazilians and foreigners. He has 
so largely won the confidence of the municipality that it 
follows his ideas in putting in municipal playgrounds, in 
developing public clinics and hospitals, and in introducing 
modern means of sanitation and social betterment into the 
city’s life. It was at his suggestion that the government 
decided to apply modern methods to the elimination of 
yellow fever from Rio de Janeiro. 

John M. Silliman, a classmate of President Wilson at 
Princeton, was another of these ambassadors. For 
twenty or more years he lived as a “gentleman farmer” 
and American vice-consul at Saltillo, Mexico. His up- 
to-date agricultural and dairying methods were used more 
to help his Mexican neighbors to improve their crops 
than to add to his own possessions. He was first in every 
movement for community betterment. He was equally 
popular among Mexicans and Americans. On Sundays, 
if there was no minister to speak to the little American 
congregation, he would hurry from his large men’s Bible 
class which he conducted in Spanish at the Mexican 
church to read one of Beecher’s sermons to the Ameri- 
cans. And he found not only his American friends there, 
but a good sprinkling of Mexicans wishing to try out 
their English, and to be near the big man they loved. 


142 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


Like these there are many other North Americans, busi- 
ness men, government representatives, educators, scien- 
tific experts, as well as the missionaries, who are con- . 
tributing by their Christian life and contagious friendli- 
ness to a real drawing together of the Americans of the 
North and the South. It is difficult to refrain from men- 
tioning by name a long list of such friends in various 
realms of life, who are known to be making these invalu- 
able contributions. There are such organizations as the 
Rotary Clubs, now rapidly growing in South America, 
where Anglo-Saxons and Latins are brought together in 
the finest fellowship and where these spiritual ambassadors 
find opportunities for large service. How can they be 
increased ? 

How much it would mean if both the governmental 
world and the business world should keep in mind this 
idea of spiritual ambassadors as they select their repre- 
sentatives to these countries! This does not mean that 
they must all be “preachers,” or necessarily loud in their 
religious professions, but ministers, real evangelists of 
good-will, whether business men, government agents, or 
representatives of philanthropic or missionary organiza- 
tions. They would take very seriously the work of in- 
terpreting the best of North American life to the Latin 
Americans, and would bring back to their own people a 
realization of the lovable traits as well as the serious 
needs of our fellow Americans. 

As we give ourselves to building a united America, we 
find that, fortunately, the North and the South are com- 
plements, the one to the other. This is true in the physi- 
cal realm, where precisely the things that one is rich in 
are things the other lacks and vice versa. In the moral 
realm, while the North American is energetic, inventive, 


BASES FOR FRIENDSHIP 143 


resourceful, and practical, the South American is cour- 
teous, refined, open-hearted, and idealistic. 

But up to the present time the moral realm has largely 
been obscured by the dominance of the physical. The 
least attractive phase of the life of the two peoples has 
been most generally presented to each other. 

The tremendous force of a great nation, the unorgan- 
ized helplessness of the small countries; the economic 
drive of a great industrial people and the shiftlessness and 
often dishonest officialdom of undeveloped countries; the 
natural dominance of the strong, with the equally natu- 
ral suspicion of the weak; the big stick and the sullen re- 
sentment; the purely economic, materialistic forces, and 
the raw, unchristianized passions—these have been the 
elements which have been playing the largest part in 
Inter-American relations. The fact that these elements 
have been the most prominent in all international rela- 
tions in the past does not excuse us in America. Here, 
at least, on this new continent, unhampered by all the 
cross-currents of the Old World, we have the largest op- 
portunity of making spiritual forces supreme. 

The whole question regarding future ventures in Inter- 
American friendship may be summed up thus: Shall such 
ventures be made on the basis of economic determinism, 
or on the basis of the principles of Jesus Christ? The 
one road leads to division, to despair, to chaos; the other 
leads to unity, to hope, to victory. 


FOR FURTHER READING 


Ariel. Jos& E. Ropo. Tr. by Stimson. Houghton Mifflin Co., 
Boston. 

Hispanic American Relations with the United States. W.S. Ros- 
ERTSON. Oxford University Press, New York. 1923. 


144 INTER-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP 


Literary History of Spanish America. A. E. Corster. Mac- 
millan Co., New York. 1916. 

Of One Blood. Ropert E. Speer. Missionary Education Move- 
ment, New York. 1924. 

“Some Contemporary Latin American Poetry in English Verse.” 
Bulletin of the Pan-American Union. July, 1924. 

South America from a Surgeons Viewpoint. F. H. Martin. 
Revell Co., New York. 

“Toward a Better Pan American Understanding.” Jost VASCONE- 
Los. Bulletin of the Pan-American Union. August, 1924. 

Two Americas, The. RAFAEL Reyes. Stokes Co., New York. 


1914. 


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— 
: ) ; 
f : . — = r ~ : 


kent 


enn 


Wo 
oe mia N 
vy en poy aa 

Pa si 


oo ae 


nv 
A ne ; 
art o i 
y A } 7 
7 > 2 
; 
J 


vs ; uh 





eee 
trifsarpacpeceneet 


Lin eoeniae 


eres 
po bene 


. Seah 
rpaiee ry Tete 


bb petbisseicesihos sshbecioes 
iaretese eo rere iep ee Bee Cees 
eigchseastearsetaae eaten en 
Sig tie Fa carat ne estes 
aes steaee 
ake 


eles 
re 


Lohweei eh 


see 
eaters 


enaeee 


pepeton 


i Scere 
; Sitter inte 
= 


Leones wang 


paar 


“are fara tae as 
ot ns on 


Sys eeee rey 
jane oent oh 


ee 


e 





a . 
—? toss 
5 


paket sets. = 
car See epre cy ere epee y 


